What did Maidan really fight for?

The results of parliamentary elections in Ukraine were so obvious, that could be accurately predicted in August, without any talents for mystical foresight or a time-machine.

“The leaders of Nazi battalions will rush to convert their deceitful and based on blood PR on the war - into the seats in Parliament, while their sponsors-oligarchs quickly sort out these ‘Fuerers’ into their electoral lists, – ‘diluting’ with them the rest of the staff: the neoliberal officials dressed into traditional embroidered shirts, professional NGO ‘grant-eaters’ and businessmen who managed to buy the parliamentary seats. Thus, the former criminals, ‘white power warriors’ become respectable politicians.

Given the fact that the majority of Donbass residents (as well as a huge number of refugees) de facto will not or cannot vote, they and their opinions are not represented in the new Parliament. But this doesn’t present any interest to the supporters of ‘united country’. Therefore, it’s not difficult to predict that the parliament will consist of nationalist warmongers – it will be, therefore, the most rightwing parliament in Ukrainian history or even in the history of post-war Europe.”

In other words, the results of the recent parliamentary elections were determined by the fact that there was no other choice, except the only one - proposed by the authorities. Representative democracy has ceased to be even a visibility in Ukraine (as it was since the late 1990’s when the silently imposed financial requirements closed the door for the ‘commoners’ to the parliament). And media has turned to be just a mouthpiece of the authorities, while keeping silent, distorting or pursuing the alternative opinions.

By brutal cutting off the voters of the opposing regions, post-Maidan regime de facto has allowed for the elections only own supporters. However, even they were offered to choose among the forces which didn’t differ much in ideas, relaying similar nationalist slogans along with demands of neoliberal ‘reforms’. Almost all those forces had common sponsors or foreign patrons. In fact it was a kind of ‘intra-specific competition’ for the right to defend sponsors’ interests at the expense of the majority of citizens.

We can say, that Ukrainians were offered to choose among the commander of neo-Nazi battalion ‘Azov’, included in the list of Yatsenyuk’s Popular Front or the commander of the battalion “Aidar’, accused in war crimes but included into the list of Radical Party of O.Lyashko or the commander of battalion ‘Donbass’, profiting on the death of his soldiers but included into the list of “Samopomich’ party or the mercenary from ‘Aidar’ battalion included into the list of ‘Batkivschina’ party. And it was quite obvious that such a ‘choice’ between ‘brown plague’ and militarist fever was like the choice between Poroshenko, Yatsenyuk, Lyashko, Sadoviy [leader of Samopomich party] or Tymoshenko – they all are completely interchangeable and replacing any of them wouldn’t be even noticed by a right-neoliberal pro-Maidan supporter.

The same goes about far-right Svoboda party, which didn’t get into parliament as a party, but nevertheless – brought there 6 MPs, including notorious far-right leaders Levchenko and Illenko. Part of the Svoboda voters shifted to other ‘patriotic forces’, which used the same nationalist rhetoric and significantly rose due to the right populism of Maidan and militarist hysteria. We can take as an example ‘Samopomich’ party which effectively ‘sold the same product but in a new cover’. Then, as the economic crisis deepens, the right-neoliberal parties – which got the complete control over legislative – would fiercely blame each other for the collapse, along with eternal seeking for various internal and external ‘enemies of the state’.

However, now the prime-minister Yatsenyuk actually tells the truth, telling that ‘pro-european’ parties in new Parliament are a ‘united team’. He only forgets to add that the ‘success’ of the team depended on destroying the unity of the country and ignoring the opinions of half of the citizens – those who expressed their protest in the only form which is still available for them – they boycotted the elections in mass numbers.

Elections without a real choice – as well as the Parliament with a ‘legitimacy’ relied only on violence against opposition – that’s actually the main result of “Euro-Maidan”. The parliamentary elections have completed the process of re-distribution of benefits and high positions among the forces which effectively brought the current regime to power and then helped to foment the civil war (through which they try to cling to power amid disappointment of the masses - shocked by economic crisis).

Actually, the newly elected MPs are real representatives of the new regime with its ideology combined from nationalist prejudices and aggressive free-market fundamentalism. Certainly, those representatives of the regime never forget about their own private selfish interests of the bourgeoisie. Being engaged into political symbiosis with the oligarchs, these politicians expected to get ‘some crumbs’ from the oligarchs’ feast. They promised to defend the interests of their patrons, who had included them into the election lists and financed their election campaigns. And with the absence of any significant opposition, it was not a difficult task.

-          So, what Maidan has been fighting for? – ask passionately its supporters, while suffering from the crisis. Sometimes they look like fairy-tale characters waiting for the Golden Tree to grow. Although, even fairy-tale characters do learn the lessons.

-          So, what did the fighters in Anti-Terrorist Operation and the killed in Maidan die for? – ask some people, while voting for the officials and battalion commanders who profit on the war; who are directly responsible for thousands of victims of the war, which has destroyed Ukraine.

Just before the elections they let some hundreds of the encircled soldiers (in cauldron of Bakhmutovka) to die in vain (since the officials didn’t order them to retreat from the cauldron). And those soldiers actually died in order to save image of the politicians striving for parliamentary seats. Some survived in the cauldron soldiers were saved only by their enemies – by Donbass rebels. Meanwhile, Ukrainian media promoted militarist candidates, boasting their ‘bravery’, and duplicated propaganda fakes, remaining silent over the tragedy of rank-and-file soldiers. Although, the same way, they were silent about the killed in Illovaysk cauldron and on Savur-Mohyla strategic height as well.

The new staff of Ukrainian Parliament is a real answer to all those questions: EuroMaidan and victims of war were needed so that the system (established in our country after the fall of the USSR) remained untouched and could ‘reboot’ for a new version of the program. EuroMaidan was needed to secure the well-being and career of those who led and directed this movement. While reading the list of new MPs, you can easily define what kind of people stand behind them (and they even don’t hide it). Members of punitive squads, robbers and murderers in masks and camouflage uniform – they already promise to beat the opponents and come to the parliamentary sessions with arms.

There are also some so-called ‘civil society activists’ among new MPs, who turned the activism and ‘human-right issue’ into profitable business, relying on political conjuncture. There are also some journalists, who first became popular on exposing oligarchy of Yanukovich, but then appeared in the pay-bills of other oligarchs – those, who seized power. And now those journalists start to demand total media censorship. There are also many new and old politicians, officials and super-rich, who smoothly moved from old staff of the parliament to a new one (as if in a mockery over farcical ‘lustration’).

They all effectively used Maidan, alluring citizens with illusionary prospects of “European” prosperity for Ukraine. But, unlike millions deceived citizens, the new MPs have really achieved their personal prosperity – just for themselves. Now those ‘activists’, who won the parliamentary seats, are openly scoffing at the supporters, who brought them to power. “I will not work at the Parliament just for 5000 UAH. It is impossible to live on it in Kiev” – cynically states one of the organizers of Maidan – journalist Mustafa Neyem, who got into parliament in the list of the president-oligarch P.Poroshenko’s block. But at the same time, hundreds thousands of Kiev residents live in a ‘parallel’ world, which is unknown for Mustafa. They will never come to his favorite restaurants with good and tasty ‘European food’, because they have to survive with a much lesser sum of money.

Moreover, their situation is only getting worse. According to the official data (published just before the elections), real wages in September 2014 decreased by 11.4%, comparing to September 2013; and the wages arrears in September increased since the beginning of the year up to 156%.

There is only one single point, where new Parliament will meet the expectations of those who voted for it: it is obvious, that new MPs will actively develop neoliberal reforms – so much awaited by thousands of Maidan middle-class supporters from company offices or hipsters’ cafes – there are many of them in the vast expanses of our Country of Horrible Wonders. These anti-social measures are inevitable, because they are the condition for receiving foreign loans – so much desired by post-Maidan government and so disastrous for the future of Ukraine. Soon the government will not have funds to pay social benefits for Ukrainians and our citizens will not only tighten their belts – these belts turn into the strangleholds tightened on the neck - in attempts to follow ‘European prospects’ for our country.

“Ukraine can be saved by the Greek or Singapore way of treatment… quick shock reforms, carried out in a strict form of orders; active cleansing of the staff in the process of lustration (without regard to short-term negative social effect…. Since there are some years till the next elections, the president shouldn’t fear people’s discontent). And it is a crucial issue for the president to get the full control over the law-enforcement agencies” – one of the foreign experts quite frankly outlines the prospects in ‘Euromaidan’ web-site. He also notes that the ‘reforms’ should be carried out ‘under the pressure and with the help of Western advisors”, that is – with the help of such ‘experts and economists’ like him.

When the dreams about the ‘european’ reforms become reality, then those who prayed so much to them, should refer to themselves the remark from classic Moliere’s comedy: “Tu l'as voulu, Georges Dandin!” (You wanted it, Georges the ‘Dupe”!).  

So, generally speaking, the elections in Ukraine just revealed some intermediate results of the rightwing coup in our country. Maidan made Ukraine entirely dependant on the will of external forces, playing chess on the large chess desk of Ukraine’s territory.

Maidan has enriched oligarchs, endowing them with direct political power and allowing them to plunder public budget even more than ever. Maidan has brought to power the crooks, who agree for a smaller bribe to serve their patrons and NGOs, giving out various grants. Maidan has turned fanatics and murderers into ‘heroes of Ukraine’, allowing them to realize their popular Banderites’ slogan: “Death to enemies!”, that means in fact “death to the people” – because thanks to Maidan thousands of Ukrainians are killed, dozens of towns, villages, farms, mines and factories are destroyed. And now, while following the same destructive logic of neoliberal reforms, Maidan threatens to destroy the country by hands of the newly elected MPs, who consolidated after the elections the unlimited power.

To counter such sinister prospects, the half of the country, which boycotted the parliamentary elections, should, therefore, shift from the silent protest to actions.

Andrey Manchuk

Liva

Translation: Dmitriy Kolesnik