The first presidential electoral campaign taking place in Ukraine after the Orange Revolution has turned out to be quite competitive. It is hard to predict who will win and a run off is very likely between Premier Tymoshenko and pro-Russian Yanukovych.
The reasons for such forecast are manifold. People are sceptic because their ideals of democracy have not been realized and the country suffers from low standard governance.
After the August 2008 war in Georgia the conflict between the once Orange coalition fellows – President Yuschenko and Premier Tymoshenko – has deepened. This infighting was exacerbated with the advent of the global crisis which reduced Ukraine’s manoeuvres for stabilization.
The downgrade of the country from Western actors’ priorities increased Moscow’s chances to re-acquire its lost role in Ukrainian politics. A general lack of consensus on what national interests should be gives little hope that the situation can improve in the near future