INDEPTH: UKRAINE
Ukraine's political crisis: a timeline
CBC News Online | February 4, 2005
1991
In the free elections held simultaneously with a referendum on independence from the Soviet Union, Leonid Kravchuk, a former chairman of the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet, is elected president.
1996
Ukraine adopts a new constitution and currency, the hryvna.
1994
Leonid Kuchma, who resigned as prime minister to run for the presidency, is elected to succeed Kravchuk.
1999
Kuchma is re-elected.
2000
Georgiy Gongadze, a Ukrainian investigative journalist, is kidnapped and murdered.
2001
An audio tape is released purportedly containing the voice of Kuchma ordering Gongadze's kidnapping by police officers. Kuchma denies the charge. The EU calls for an inquiry into Gongadze's death.
The government of Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko is dismissed following a no-confidence vote in parliament.
Viktor Yushchenko (AP photo)
|
2002
A general election results in Yushchenko's Our Ukraine coalition having a plurality of seats in the parliament, but not a majority. The opposition parties allege electoral fraud and Yushchenko becomes the leader of the anti-president opposition in parliament.
The opposition stages mass protests demanding the resignation of President Kuchma.
U.S. officials authenticate audio recordings made in 2000 on which Kuchma is apparently heard to approve the sale of radar systems to Iraq, and to order an official to "deal with" journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
After Kuchma dismisses the prime minister, he selects Viktor Yanukovych, governor of the Donetsk region, to take his place.
Viktor Yanukovych (AP photo)
|
2003
Tens of thousands of people demonstrate in Kiev to demand the resignation of President Kuchma.
A constitutional court rules that Kuchma can run for a third term as president in 2004.
2004
A field of 24 candidates runs for president, including opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who has the backing of President Kuchma.
Nov. 1: Election officials announce that neither Yanukovych nor Yushchenko has a majority of the votes for president, forcing a run-off vote on Nov. 21.
Nov. 21: Both candidates claim victory in the election. The first ballot results appear to favour Yanukovych, but exit polls conducted by Western observers show Yushchenko in the lead.
Nov. 22: The official results give the presidency to Yanukovych by two percentage points over his opponent. But exit polls give Yushchenko an 11-point lead, and international observers say the election fell short of democratic standards. Demonstrators fill Kiev's Independence Square to support the opposition.
Nov. 23: Yushchenko takes a symbolic oath of office and accuses authorities of rigging the election. Nearly 200,000 protesters march on the Ukrainian parliament. Opposition leaders fail in their attempt to push a no-confidence vote on the election results through the parliament. Legislators supporting Yanukovych stay away from the vote, meaning it doesn't have enough numbers to carry weight.
Nov. 24: Ukraine's Central Elections Commission announces the final results of the election, giving Yanukovych 49 per cent and Yushchenko 47 per cent of the vote. Yushchenko calls for a nationwide strike and Yanukovych offers to meet with his opponent. The international community, including Canada, denounces the elections.
Nov. 25: Ukraine's Supreme Court rules that the Central Elections Commission cannot certify the elections and inaugurate Yanukovych until the court has considered an appeal of the elections.
Nov. 26: Yushchenko calls for a new election on Dec. 12 after a meeting with Yanukovych and Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing president. Kuchma says a "multi-lateral working group" will address how to move forward.
Nov. 27: More than 700,000 opposition supporters pack into Kiev's Independence Square and surround the parliament building. An emergency session of the Ukrainian parliament declares the presidential election results invalid and expresses no-confidence in the elections commission.
Nov. 28: The legislature in the Donetsk (southeast) region votes to hold a referendum on autonomy on Dec. 5.
Nov. 29: Ukraine's Supreme Court begins combing through thousands of complaints of vote fraud.
Dec. 1: The Ukrainian parliament votes to oust Prime Minister Yanukovych and his cabinet with a motion of non-confidence. About 200,000 protesters, spending their 10th night in the street, celebrate with fireworks. Yanukovych refuses to accept the vote but agrees with Yuschenko on rules for continued protests: no violence and no more blocking of government buildings.
Dec. 3: Ukraine's highest court strikes down the results of the Nov. 21 election and orders a new election for Dec. 26.
Dec. 8: The Ukrainian parliament votes to adopt a package of constitutional and electoral changes in a bid to ease the standoff between supporters of Yushchenko and Yanukovych. The changes transfer power from the office of the president to the parliament and remove opportunities for election fraud.
Dec. 11: Doctors in Vienna confirm that presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko's illness is the result of dioxin poisoning.
Dec. 26: Ukrainians go to the polls again. Early results show Viktor Yuschenko with a big lead.
Dec. 27: Yanukovych refuses to concede defeat, saying he will ask the Supreme Court to rule on the outcome. The head of the Ukrainian Election Commission, Yaroslav Davydovych, says Yushchenko's lead over Yanukovych – with almost all the ballots counted – is insurmountable.
Dec. 28: A prominent European human rights watchdog group asks Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to accept his defeat at the hands of rival Viktor Yushchenko in the presidential runoff election. A final preliminary vote tally shows Yanukovych lost by more than 7 percentage points.
Dec. 29: Protesters blockade government headquarters, preventing Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych from holding a cabinet meeting. Yanukovych says he won't resign as PM and won't concede defeat in the Dec. 26 election.
Dec. 30: Ukraine's election commission rejects Yanukovych's appeal of the results of the re-vote, saying there's no proof of voter fraud. Yanukovych vows not to concede until he exhausts all legal channels.
Dec. 31: Yanukovych resigns as Ukraine's prime minister, but refuses to concede the presidential election.
2005
Jan. 5: Yanukovych appeals the election results to the country's Supreme Court. The court rejects the appeal the next day.
Jan. 10: The Supreme Court rejects eight appeals filed by Yanukovych.
The Central Elections Commission issues its final ruling declaring Viktor Yushchenko the winner of the presidential election with 51.99 per cent of the vote and Yanukovych with 44.2 per cent.
Jan. 23: Yushchenko is officially sworn in as Ukraine's new president. Hundreds of thousands of his supporters gather in Independence Square to celebrate.
Feb. 4: The Ukrainian parliament unanimously approves Yushchenko ally Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister.
^TOP
|
|
 |
 MENU |
|
|
| QUICK FACTS: |
Population: 47,732,079
Government type: Republic
Capital: Kiev
Independence: Aug. 24, 1991
Industries: coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar)
GDP: $260.4 billion
Unemployment: 3.7% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers
Population below poverty line: 29%
Life expectancy: men 61.35 years, women 72.27 years
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Ethnic groups: Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8%
Religions: Ukrainian Orthodox – Moscow Patriarchate 26.5%, Ukrainian Orthodox – Kyiv Patriarchate 20%, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate) 13%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish
Source: CIA World Factbook
|
|
| MORE: |
|
|
|
