Maurice Ali
Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 7720 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:40 pm Post subject: Toronto Ukrainians Rally For Democracy In The Ukraine |
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Toronto Ukrainians Rally For Democracy In The Ukraine
By Maurice Ali, Journalist
The large gathering at City Hall.
Toronto, Canada - There was a large gathering of about five hundred people at Nathan Phillips Square (City Hall) today as a show of support for democratic elections in the Ukraine. The people who attended this demonstration carried placards of all sorts criticizing the Russia and demanding that democracy rule.
At the event were a couple of tables where small chemical light bars (as opposed to candles) could be obtained, and many were carried by the attendees of the event. At the podium was a very good orchestra playing Ukrainian music and later a number of local celebrities and politicians were on hand to speak to the crowd. I (as usual) left the people in the spotlight to the larger commercial news agencies and concentrated on the regular people who braved subzero temperatures to come down and show support for a true democratic vote for the Ukraine.
One Of several tables handing out lights.
It should be remembered that Viktor Yushchenko (leader of the opposition and the popular front-runner) made the headlines with his "mysterious illness" that transformed his good looks into a very disfigured one. It was only this weekend that a group of doctors stated that Mr. Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin which in sufficient doses gives a person a severe form of adult acne. The party in power stated that this disfigurement was a bug that the opposition leader had picked up and other such nonsense.
PHOTO BY G. GARANICH/V. FEDOSENKO/REUTERS
Before And After!
The nonsense did not stop there as the runoff election that was held there was fixed in more ways that one in order to ensure that Yushchenko would not win. Some polling stations - for example - reported one hundred and six percent voter turnout. Other criticisms were of people seeing their vote disappear because the markers for the ballots were filled with invisible ink and erasing the vote. As incredible as that sounds, this has been stated more than once by well known reporters/broadcasters such as Toronto radio station CFRB broadcaster Ted Woloshyn. The result was a win for the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych (hand-picked candidate of outgoing President Leonid Kuchma.), but that November 21 vote was later ruled invalid due to fraud by their Supreme Court. The next vote is scheduled for December 26, 2004.
Back in Toronto, I turned our cameras off the podium and onto the regular people to see what they had to say about the situation in the Ukraine. One of the attendees was a man who was very eager to state the true situation in the country at the moment. I met him as he held up a flag in one hand and a placard in the other. I quickly secured an audio interview which can be hear uncut under that person's picture immediately below this paragraph. Check it out as his statement is well thought out and articulate.
CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO INTERVIEW
I found the gathering to be very well behaved and organized. They just seemed to be concerned people with links to their home country, that wanted to see democracy rein supreme. If their solidarity here in Canada matches that seen today in the Ukraine; democracy will prove the real winner of the presidential election on December 26 of this year.
A final view of the participants and placards. |
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