Eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts have held an election to establish the leadership of the autonomous People’s Republic of Donetsk (DPR) today, and exit polls point to a decisive victory for top rebel leader Aleksander Zakharchenko.
The polls showed Zakharchenko, the interim premier of the DPR, will win the presidency with over 80% of the vote. His party is also expected to win a strong majority of the DPR parliament.
Zakharechenko campaigned heavily on a platform of independence from Ukraine, saying he believes the DPR could become a prosperous nation along the lines of the United Arab Emirates if it were free to tap its coal and natural gas reserves for exports.
The US loudly condemned the elections, saying they are “illegitimate” and that they will never recognize the result. The lack of recognition does not appear to be a significant obstacle, however, as the DPR isn’t at present heading toward outright secession or seeking US recognition for that.
Ah, for the day when a people can achieve self determination and no one gives a … what “us” thinks because they don’t have the guns to do anything about it.
When an area under the control of an armed band gives the leader of that band an 80% vote, no one is surprised or impressed. Indeed, we have no way of knowing if the result is genuine. Clearly, though, the contractors have learned from their mistake in Crimea, where the vote was so ridiculously high (and the electoral turnout so ridiculous) that no one took the result seriously. The fact that they're softpeddling secession suggests that they have no real hope for the future. Last Sunday's massive vote for Ukrainian independence, including in most of Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts, must have been a massive defeat for them.
Why are the elections "illegitimate"? Because the USA says so! You got that! They don't have Washington's approval or blessing! It doesn't matter what the people want. What matters is that Washington didn't get to decide! And now Washington is not going to "recognize" the results, just like a kid taking his ball and going home.