Abstract
The 1994 presidential elections in Ukraine revealed many myths and legends, few of which are grounded in reality. Western media coverage was influenced by presidential elections held in neighbouring Belarus. The election of Alexander Lukashenko and Leonid Kuchma in Belarus and Ukraine respectively had the unfortunate result of being described as one and the same trend which looked set to reintegrate the former USSR with Russia. Regarding the ‘legend of Kuchma as a friend of reform and the legend of Kravchuk as a hardened nationalist, if Kravchuk were a nationalist the national minorities would not have voted for him?’ Myroslav Popovych, head of the Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Sciences, pointed out.2
‘Ukrainians are trying to decide not who would be the best president, but who would be the least bad.’
(The Economist, 18 June 1994)
‘With Kravchuk I know there won’t be war and with Kuchma I know I won’t starve.’
(Kyiv voter)1
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
David R. Marples, ‘Ukraine after the Presidential Elections’, RFE/RL Research Report, vol. 3, no. 31 (12 August 1994), p. 10.
See T. Kuzio, ‘Kravchuk to Kuchma: The Ukrainian Presidential Elections of 1994’, The Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, vol. 12, no. 2 (June 1996), pp. 117–44.
See Carol Barner-Barry and Cynthia A. Hody, The Politics of Change. The Transformation of the Former Soviet Union (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995), p. 263.
Student hunger strikers forced Masol’s resignation as prime minister in October 1990 when Kravchuk was parliamentary speaker. See Taras Kuzio and Andrew Wilson, Ukraine. Perestroika to Independence (London: Macmillan, 1994).
Roman Szporluk, ‘Nation Building in Ukraine: Problems and Prospects’, in John W. Blaney, ed., The Successor States to the USSR (Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1995), p. 180.
Dmytro Vydrin and Dmytro Tabachnyk, Ukraina na Porozi XXI Stolittia. Politychnyi Aspekt (Kyiv: Lybid, 1995), p. 173. The authors of this book were heavily criticised by the Congress of the Ukrainian Intelligentsia for backing a Eurasian (in contrast to European) orientation for Ukraine (Chas-Time, 17 November 1995).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1997 Taras Kuzio
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kuzio, T. (1997). Issues and Voters in the 1994 Ukrainian Presidential Elections. In: Ukraine under Kuchma. Studies in Russian and East European History and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25744-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25744-7_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-25746-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-25744-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)