By the sorry standards of the ex-Soviet Union, the election on March 31st was mildly encouraging. The corrupt powers-that-be, for all their bullying, manipulation and plain vote-rigging, won the most seats―but failed to achieve a crushing majority. Opposition parties managed to get into parliament. Only one candidate was murdered. The Communist vote went down. The new parliament may be a bit more businesslike and less turbulent than its predecessor. And it may be harder for President Leonid Kuchma (pictured above) to continue his misrule over Ukraine's 50m people once his term expires in 2004. That said, gloom prevails. A reform-minded opposition coalition won the popular vote on the national list that accounts for half of parliament's seats but pro-presidential candidates did well, sometimes suspiciously so, in the single-mandate constituencies that make up the other half, so winning the biggest total tally of seats. The president's camp used its powers shamelessly to wring votes out of prisons, the armed forces, the civil service and state-run factories. Opposition candidates faced threats and dirty tricks, and found it hard to get a fair hearing on state television.
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