Supporters of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich hustled a sweeping law through parliament on Thursday in an attempt to curb anti-government protests, sparking an outcry from the opposition and raising tensions on the streets.
The law, backed by deputies from Yanukovich's Regions Party and allies, also adopted a similar stance to Russia on registration of foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), insisting they should pay taxes on profit.
NGOs that were financed from abroad and took part in political activity in Ukraine would be categorized as "foreign agents", it said.
But the law, which ran to more than 100 pages, appeared directed mainly at preparing the ground for action to end the street protests that have been taking place in the capital Kiev and some other cities since November.
Don't Ukrainians know that Russia can't have their loyal province looking all disorderly and disrespectful to authority? Even if it is just local Ukrainian enforcers? One day Russian troops might be facing those demonstrators in Kiev, and precedents must be set.
UPDATE: A color revolution meets the color of law:
On paper, Ukraine is now a dictatorship. President Viktor Yanukovych, in having the deputies of his Party of Regions endorse an extraordinary packet of legislation, has arrogated decisive political power to himself. ...
In procedure and in content the laws “passed” by the Ukrainian parliament this week contravene the most basic rights of modern constitutional democracies: to speech, assembly, and representation. ... There were no public hearings, there was no debate in parliament, and there was no actual vote. There was a show of hands in parliament and an estimate of how many hands were raised. ...
The deputies—those who apparently raised their hands—have all but voted themselves out of existence. If the deputies from Yanukovych’s Party of Regions read the legislation, which according to Ukrainian reports they did not, they would realize that their own positions are now under threat. Their parliamentary immunity is now no longer guaranteed, which means that if they vote the wrong way they can be stripped of immunity and prosecuted.
I guess the Ukrainian "legislators" had to
Hey, the protesters are now by law outlaws, so why not act that way?
Protesters clashed with riot police in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday after tough anti-protest legislation, which the political opposition says paves the way for a police state, was rushed through parliament last week.
A group of young masked demonstrators attacked a cordon of police with sticks and tried to overturn a bus blocking their way to the parliament building after opposition politicians called on people to disregard the new legislation.
Well, I guess Putin showed in Syria how Yanukovich can win in a contest against the people. And Russia is much closer.
Yanukovich can only consider himself out of the woods if he can get President Obama to publicly say Yanukovich must go. At that point, Yanukovich and Putin can pop the champagne.
