Elections

I had forgotten, while we were on vacation, that this Sunday is election day here in Ukraine. This is a very serious election. Tensions are high around the country. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out tomorrow and the next few days afterward.

When we went throught the city center yesterday there were reminders every where from the different parties. I don't remember how many parties there actually are, but the three main ones were very prominent. I call them the White Party, the Blue Party and the Yellow Party. Come to think of it, there was also a Red/Dark Pink Party yesterday, too. I call them this because they each have several little tent booths that they set up where you can go pick up information about that candidate. The White Party has a big red heart on it's flags and tents, the Yellow Party has a big blue horseshoe.

I am reminded of the Revolution in 1917 when the Reds (communists) fought against the Whites (Tzarists) - not that these colors correspond to that now! Although the communists are still red, the whites are not Tzarists!

Last night about this time fireworks went off in the city center for several minutes. Tonight it is the same. Big ones - the ones that go BOOM, plus the pretty sparkely ones, too. We can hear them very well where we live, but I think a new building going up a block away has blocked much of the view. We used to be able to see the bigger ones as well, but I haven't seen any the last couple days.

So, if you think of it, pray for Ukraine tomorrow. As I mentioned above, this is a very serious election. A lot is at stake. If you are interested in more of what it's all about (I'm not going to go into any details here at all, except for the ending paragraph), check out some of the news stuff on Google under "Ukraine Elections."


From: The Canadian Press
Canadian election observers in Ukraine face harassment, threats
18 hours ago (as of 9:50pm Ukraine time)

"There are about 3,000 international observers monitoring Ukraine's hotly contested election, which pits prime minister Viktor Yanukovich's Party of Regions against President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and a bloc led by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko."