The Orange Revolution (Ukrainian: Помаранчева революція, romanized: Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election runoff which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter intimidation, and electoral fraud. Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, was the focal point of the movement's campaign of civil resistance, with thousands of protesters demonstrating daily. Nationwide, this was highlighted by a series of acts of civil disobedience, sit-ins, and general strikes organized by the opposition movement.
The protests were prompted by reports from several domestic and foreign election monitors as well as the widespread public perception that the results of the run-off vote of 21 November 2004 between leading candidates Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych were rigged by the authorities in favour of the latter. The nationwide protests succeeded when the results of the original runoff were annulled, and a re-vote was ordered by Ukraine's Supreme Court for 26 December 2004. Under intense scrutiny by domestic and international observers, the second run-off was declared to be "free and fair." The final results showed a clear victory for Yushchenko, who received about 52% of the vote, compared to Yanukovych's 44%. Yushchenko was declared the official winner, and with his inauguration on 23 January 2005 in Kyiv, the Orange Revolution ended. In the following years, the Orange Revolution had a negative connotation among pro-government circles in Belarus and Russia.
In the 2010 presidential election, Yanukovych became Yushchenko's successor as President of Ukraine after the Central Election Commission and international observers declared that the presidential election was conducted fairly.
Gongadze assassination or Kuchmagate crisis
Georgiy Gongadze, a Ukrainian journalist and the founder of Ukrayinska Pravda (a newspaper well known for publicising the corruption or unethical conduct of Ukrainian politicians), was kidnapped and murdered in 2000. Persistent rumours suggested that Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma had ordered the killing. Gen. Oleksiy Pukach, a former police officer, was accused of the murder under the orders of a former minister who committed suicide in 2005. Pukach was arrested in 2010 and was sentenced to life in prison in 2013. The murder sparked a movement against Kuchma in 2000 that may be seen as the origin of the Orange Revolution in 2004. After two terms of presidency (1994–1999) and the Cassette Scandal of 2000 that significantly damaged his image, Kuchma decided not to run for a third term in the 2004 elections and instead supported Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential race against Viktor Yushchenko of the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc.
Causes of the Orange Revolution
The state of Ukraine during the 2004 presidential election was considered to be in "ideal condition" for an outburst from the public. During this time, Ukrainians were impatient while waiting for the economic and political transformation. The results of the election were thought to be fraudulent.
The Revolution empowered many Ukrainians to take to the streets and participate in the protests, some lasting as long as seventeen days. The protests did not enjoy national participation but were mostly joined by western and central Ukrainians. Ukraine gained independence in 1991 and it was the quest for that independence that supported the Orange Revolution. Ukrainians for the most part did not want to be too closely associated with the past history of the Soviet Union. The Austro-Hungarian roots in the eastern European geo-cultural area of Ukraine (formerly known as Poland-Lithuania) helped shape the modern-day Ukrainian national identity.
Factors enabling the Orange Revolution
The Ukrainian regime prior to the Orange Revolution sought to create a path for democratization. Ukraine was considered a "competitive authoritarian regime" that is gradually transitioning into a hybrid regime, allowing for room to fully transition into a liberal democracy, with a market based economy. The Ukrainian electorate sought to elect a candidate to bring economic and political reforms. Yushchenko quickly established himself as the leading candidate in calling for these reforms.
Yushchenko was a charismatic candidate who did not appear to be corrupt and presented his ideas in a "non-Soviet" way. Young Ukrainian voters were important to the outcome of the 2004 presidential election. This new wave of younger people born in a post-Soviet Ukraine held a negative view of Kuchma and his ability to lead their country, an aftereffect of the cassette scandal.
The abundance of younger people who participated showed an increasing sense of nationalism that was developing in the country. The Orange Revolution had enough popular impact that it interested people of all ages.
Visits of Vladimir Putin to Ukraine in 2004
In 2004, Russian president Vladimir Putin visited Ukraine numerous times. The Party of Regions received large donations from Moscow, estimated at between $50 million and $300 million. Putin tasked his chief of staff, Dmitry Medvedev, with leading political operations in Ukraine. Medvedev sent trusted advisors, including Gleb Pavlovsky and Sergei Markov, to Ukraine. In August 2004, Kremlin political activists opened a room called “Russia House” in a hotel in central Kyiv to run the Kremlin's campaign for Yanukovych.
Prelude to the Orange Revolution
In late 2002, Viktor Yushchenko (Our Ukraine), Oleksandr Moroz (Socialist Party of Ukraine), Petro Symonenko (Communist Party of Ukraine), and Yulia Tymoshenko (Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) issued a joint statement concerning "the beginning of a state revolution in Ukraine." The communists left the alliance: Symonenko opposed the idea of a single candidate from the alliance in the Ukrainian presidential election of 2004, but the other three parties remained allies until July 2006. (In the autumn of 2001, both Tymoshenko and Yushchenko had broached the idea of setting up such a coalition).
On 2 July 2004, Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc established the Force of the People, a coalition that aimed to stop "the destructive process that has, as a result of the incumbent authorities, become a characteristic for Ukraine"—at the time, President Kuchma and prime minister Yanukovych were the "incumbent authorities" in Ukraine. The pact included a promise by Viktor Yushchenko to nominate Tymoshenko as Prime Minister if Yushchenko won the October 2004 presidential election.
2004 Ukraine presidential election campaign