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Monday, September 15, 2008

Adminresurs, Astroturfing Redux As Oranges Near Divorce

Sparks are flying in the Orange coalition endgame — sparks of Kuchmism.

With the nasty fight getting nastier and the country holding its breath in disgust, the Ukrainian media draws parallels between today’s crisis and pre-Orange Ukraine. Here's a small glossary:


Adminresurs refers to the autocratic use of government resources (local authorities, law enforcement, state-run media, etc) for campaign purposes;

Astroturfing refers to the public relations technique (popular in the USSR and the US) of imitating grassroots support for a political party/politician.

And here’s a short battlefield report:

Last week, United Center, the pro-Yushchenko loyalists, rounded up college students and public employees in Zakarpattya oblast for an anti-Tymoshenko human chain rally along the highway. Watch footage of the event.



Голова Перечинської РДА Михайло Данча 2
Голова Перечинської РДА  Михайло Данча 2

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The two videos feature Mykhailo Dancha, head of Perechynsky rayon (county), presidential appointee and “community organizer” who exudes self-confidence and swears profusely. (H/t Obkom)

Meanwhile, friends of Tymoshenko have plastered the Cabinet’s Web site with a plethora of rave reviews from "ordinary Ukrainians" containing boilerplate language from the Kuchma era. (H/t Ukrayinska Pravda)

According to some sources, the Lytvyn Bloc has agreed to join the coalition in a last bid to reunite the Orange camp and stave off a snap election that may throw the fence-sitting LB back to wilderness. The reports have yet to be confirmed.

Most experts believe that Tuesday’s session of the Verkhovna Rada will see the final collapse of the Orange tandem and the creation of a PRU-BYuT coalition.

Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHWMMlhxY4&e
http://obivu.net/play14332
http://obkom.net.ua/news/2008-09-13/1315.shtml
http://pravda.com.ua/news/2008/9/12/81204.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/9/15/81245.htm
http://www.zaxid.net/newsua/2008/9/13/130541

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

They really need to get their stuff together. The EU needs to communicate with Yushchenko and other politicians that they cannot return to the age of adminresurs.

The ideal scenario is Lytvyn's Bloc comes on board they form a government. I really hope the Party of Regions/BYuT coalition does not form. That's just too much power concentrated in one place (although if that happens, some elements would not doubt split off from both Yanukovych's and Tymoshenko's parties).

Taras said...

They chose to take no advice. We now have 30 days to see what happens.