First: Thank you Catwoman and AnonomousGirl for your continued comments! I really appreciate them.
Second:
Well, the Supreme Court said that the election results can be published, even though Yanukovych is still in the midst of his last appeal. That permission pretty much means that they can go forward with the innauguration and Yuchshenko will be probably be innaugurated next weekend.
So confident is Yuschenko of the win that he's ordered the tent city on Khreshatic--one of the most visible symbols of the revolution and a powerful example of nonviolent protest--to come down. And, of course, the problems have started. No one wants to leave the tent city until the innauguration, until what they were protesting for: the installation of Yuchshenko as president to be completed. Why Yuchshenko wants the tent city down before the innauguration, I don't know. The decision has drawn complaints from within his own camp, particularly from Yulia Tymoshenko, the tiny leader of an opposition-bloc who passionately stirred up the crowds throughout the revolution.
Of course, she's a little upset because it looks like she won't get her promised position of Prime Minister. And no wonder: the East hates her. Putting her in that position is a slap in the face to half the country and will not help in the delicate negotiations Yuchshenko will have to carry out to meet his campaign promises. This vacuum for the position has started infighting within the Yuchshenko camp, which was never completely consolidated. Rather, it was a number of political blocs and student groups that came together to make sure Yanukovych did not win.
I hate this part of human nature. Ghandi spent the last half of his life fighting for the removal of British rule. He succeed, only to have the country collapse into violence after his death as Muslims and Hindus fought for control of the country. Students protested in Tianamin Square for months, went on hunger strikes, finally brought the Chinese government to the negotiating table, and then power struggles between the student groups led to a collapse of the talks. Not long afterwards, the the Chinese sent in the military to clear the protesters out.
Why is it that people can join together to fight for something, and as soon as they win they begin fighting among themselves? I realize Ukraine will likely not collapse into violence the way India and China did, and the divides between the groups in India and China were certainly more pronounced than the divides in the opposition group, but it's just so frustrating and sadening to see people struggle for something, win, and then turn on each other.
Regardless, from a selfish perspective: I got to live first-hand through a revolution! That's really petty, I know. This country didn't surge back and forth for two months on the cusp of greatness or destruction just so I could voyeristically watch in awe, but it is so damn cool to be able to say that. Even if people have no idea where Ukraine is, I can say that once I lived in a country that collectively held its breath for three months, whose struggles caught the attention of the entire world. I mean, how many people get to grow old and be able to say they once lived through a revolution? Well, my grandparents and my mother, certainly, but the revolution in Cuba did not turn out they way they hoped. Thank God this one stayed peaceful, and regardless of people's political leanings, I'm happy that we're all trying to work towards a better future for Ukraine.
Here's hoping for the best...