"orange" revolution in Moldova. Protests in Moldova: causes and consequences Lilac Revolution

Mass riots are taking place in the center of Chisinau - participants in a protest against the results of the recent elections in the country stormed the parliament and the presidential residence and threw cobblestones at the arriving fire truck and police special forces. Today, in the afternoon, a crowd of protesters broke into the building of the presidential residence, hoisted a Romanian flag over the entrance, and on the spire above the building - the flag of the European Union, RIA Novosti reports. "As reported by ITAR-TASS, the building was then set on fire. All the windows in it were broken with first to third floor.

Interfax reports that Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, contrary to Romanian media reports, did not leave the country and is now presiding over an emergency government meeting. “The meeting will discuss the current situation in Chisinau, when protests resulted in clashes between demonstrators and the police,” the press service of the head of state reported. In the evening, according to her, he intends to address the nation. This appeal was planned in advance following the results of Sunday's elections, but its content may change due to protests.

Earlier, an angry crowd broke into the parliament building, glass was broken on the first two floors of the parliament building. Furniture - tables and chairs - were thrown out of broken windows. A huge fire was lit from them, a Novosti Moldova correspondent reported from the scene. Some time ago, the participants of the rally near the parliament building were divided - some of them went to the government of Moldova. Protesters are burning red flags of the ruling Communist Party and chanting anti-communist slogans, while also making xenophobic statements. The city center is blocked, the number of demonstrators is growing, ITAR-TASS reports.

“Echo of Moscow” posted on its website a video of pogroms and arson, filmed on an amateur camera. The footage shows that the bulk of the riot participants are young people, including teenagers. There have already been victims of the riots: at least one person has died. Opposition journalist and employee of The New Times Natalya Morar reported this to Gazeta.Ru. At the same time, the doctor on duty at the Chisinau emergency hospital, Yuri Bazilyuk, told Interfax that more than 30 victims were brought to them. “Among them there are police officers and young people from among the participants in the demonstration. They all have injuries of varying degrees of severity, and some are seriously wounded,” he said. At the same time, the doctor denied the information that there was one dead. “This is not true. Someone is deliberately spreading such rumors. There are also seriously wounded, but there is no threat to life for any of the victims,” Bazilyuk said.

Omega news agency indicates that “police representatives ensuring law and order during protests in the center of the capital will not use force against protesters, even despite the injuries to several police officers.”

Meanwhile, the Moldpres agency reports that the protests did not arise spontaneously. They were called for by the opposition press - in particular, the newspaper "Timpul", which during the election campaign supported the political formations of Vlad Filat, Mihai Ghimpu and Serafim Urechean. Its pages contain calls for mass protests and violence. Thus, in the article “Tomorrow will be too late,” in which the author urges readers not to recognize the legitimacy of the election results, it is said: “This time our patience must come to an end. The time has come for us all to realize that it is better to die gracefully than to live as in delirious. If one of us dies in battle, then thousands will rise." The newspaper also published materials that contained “vehement criticism” of the current leadership of the country and disputed the results of the elections, the legality of which was “recognized by international observers from the OSCE and the EU.”

Meanwhile, the leaders of the opposition parties of Moldova, during a protest on the square in front of the government building in Chisinau, said that they would continue to protest until they achieve repeat elections to the country's parliament. “We will stand for more than one day until we achieve early elections,” Vlad Filat, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, told the protesters.

The Moldovan opposition is challenging the results of Sunday's parliamentary elections and is demanding a complete recount of the votes. Let us note that the ruling communist party won the elections. According to preliminary election results, after almost 99% of the ballots were counted, the Communist Party won 50% of the votes.

Three liberal opposition parties also entered parliament - the Liberal, the Liberal Democratic and the Our Moldova Alliance. Together they received 35% of the vote. After the redistribution of votes from parties that did not overcome the six percent barrier to enter parliament, the Communist Party will receive 61 seats in parliament, and the opposition - only 40.

Oppositionists believe that the election results were rigged, but international observers recognized the elections as free and democratic. According to the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM), Vlad Filat, on Tuesday the PLDM will appeal to the Central Election Commission with a demand for a recount of votes on all ballot papers, Interfax reports.

Earlier it was reported that on Monday evening a mass protest of young people against the falsification of election results began in Chisinau. The action continues on Tuesday morning, with students from most universities, lyceums and colleges in Chisinau taking part in it. The city center is blocked off, and at least 20 thousand people are already participating in the action.

Not a single political protest in the history of modern Armenia has ended in success

The Republican Party of Armenia, which has been ruling in this post-Soviet country for more than ten years, has always been led by its leader Serzh Sargsyan legislatively provided itself with the ground for staying in power for as long as possible. The constitutional reform in 2015 allowed S. Sargsyan, who has been president since 2008, to serve another 7 years as prime minister, who, by the way, now has more powers than the president.

The constitutional changes, despite all the risks associated with the reproduction of power, failed to provoke worthy protests in the country. This, first of all, was caused by the fact that many believed the then current President Sargsyan in his reluctance to head the cabinet of ministers. Subsequently, his opinion on this matter changed, and almost on the eve of his appointment as prime minister, which will take place on April 17, the streets of Yerevan became crowded again.

So far the weather has been favorable to the protesters, who have announced round-the-clock protests. The forces of law and order turned out to be less favorable. They already managed to use noise grenades and tear gas. There are wounded. The barbed wire stretched to block the demonstrators' passage to administrative buildings caused injuries to one of the main initiators of this protest - Nikol Pashinyan.

Ten years ago, Serzh Sargsyan came to power under similar conditions. Then mass protests resulted in bloody clashes - as a result ten people died, and Sargsyan ten became president years ago. Later ten years the situation repeats itself. But the country’s leadership will not use firearms for now, because the protest mass is not critical.

Nikol Pashinyan undoubtedly demonstrated his oratorical and organizational skills, but he alone is not enough to bring to the streets that critical mass that can force the authorities to make concessions. The protest history of Armenia has shown that not a single political action has ended in success. At the same time, almost all actions of an economic or social nature were decided in favor of the protesters. There are no prerequisites yet that the number of people on the streets of Yerevan will increase to at least the 2008 level. Then, even according to the most skeptical estimates, about 30 thousand residents of the country came out to protest.

Today, the backbone of the demonstration are students who, with the romanticism and pathos inherent in youth, with bouquets of lilacs in their hands, are ready to go to the barricades and believe that they can change not only the order in the country, but also the world.

On the other hand, there is a possibility that future Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who demonstrated his compliance during the period of socio-economic actions, will show a desire to find a middle ground this time. There is a way out of this situation: he can promise that he will occupy the post temporarily, specify a period (six months) until the Republican Party proposes another worthy candidate. This will solve several problems at once. Firstly, the Prime Minister and the Republican Party will save face, secondly, the opposition will for some time lose the pretext of collecting mass actions and will again fall into demagoguery, thirdly, Sargsyan will strengthen his position as a “people’s” politician, ready to listen to complaints and find solutions for them decisions, discarding them for good ten years the likelihood of a revolutionary solution to political issues in the country. There will be no victory for the Lilac Revolution, but Sargsyan will make concessions.

Armenia, Gyumri

2016 is a kind of anniversary for the CIS - a quarter of a century of existence. It is difficult to imagine this period without such a phenomenon as “color revolutions”. The RuBaltic.Ru portal decided to recall the national characteristics and common features of these events in the former USSR.

Georgia: "Rose Revolution" (2003–2004)

Duration: 63 days.

Scale of protests: 100 thousand people.

Victims: No.

Reasons: regime accusations E. Shevardnadze in the falsification of parliamentary elections, corruption and clanism, the dominance of “thieves” in power; economic difficulties.

The bloc of the current President Eduard Shevardnadze “For a New Georgia” was declared the winner of the parliamentary elections on November 2, 2003. OSCE observers declared the elections undemocratic. Opposition parties led by ex-Minister of Justice Mikheil Saakashvili, ex-speakers of parliament Zurab Zhvania and Nino Burjanadze joined the protest. Active participants in mass rallies in Tbilisi were young people of the Kmara (Enough) movement, modeled on the Serbian Otpora. The conflict escalated sharply by mid-November. In Zugdidi, oppositionists were fired upon by unknown masked men in broad daylight. On November 22, the opposition, holding roses in their hands, burst into the parliament building during the president's speech. Shevardnadze, along with his guards, fled through the “back door”; the next day he signed a decree on his own resignation. The new president was elected Saakashvili .

Consequences: The new government's sweeping reform program has earned copious praise in the West and a mixed reputation at home. The authorities' fight against everyday corruption, the elimination of bureaucratic obstacles and the creation of a new police force were popular among the population. The other side of the coin was Saakashvili’s accusations of political repression, building a police state, and authoritarianism. The apotheosis of the scandals was the strange death of Prime Minister Zhvania, the brutal dispersal of an opposition rally in 2007, torture and abuse of prisoners in the “model” Gldani prison. The authorities managed to establish control over the Adjarian autonomy, but an attempt to resolve the South Ossetian conflict by military means in 2008 ended in the complete defeat of the Georgian army and navy. Integration into NATO structures, contrary to Georgia's wishes, did not lead to a NATO Membership Action Plan. Chaotic personnel policies also damaged the president's image. In 2012–2013, Saakashvili's United National Movement party lost the parliamentary and presidential elections. Saakashvili himself quarreled with his comrades in the revolution, after which he left the country to build a political career in Ukraine. The Georgian prosecutor's office opened several criminal cases against him, including for embezzlement of budget funds, putting the former leader on the international wanted list.

Color revolution in Georgia

Ukraine: "Orange Revolution" (2004–2005)

Duration: 34 days.

Scale of protests: 70 thousand people.
Victims: No.

Reasons: accusations by the authorities of rigging the presidential elections in favor of V. Yanukovych, who was perceived as a protege of the Kremlin and the current President L. Kuchma; general dissatisfaction with Kuchma’s rule and the scandals associated with it (“Gongadze case”, etc.); low standard of living for the majority of the population.

Protests in Ukraine began in December 2000, when the first tents appeared on the Maidan (“Ukraine without Kuchma”, “Rise up, Ukraine!”). The main opponents in the presidential elections were two former prime ministers - representative of the Party of Regions Viktor Yanukovych and self-nominated candidate Viktor Yushchenko. In the first round on October 31, both candidates received 39% of the votes; Yushchenko was in the lead by a few hundredths of a percent. Since Yushchenko was considered a pro-European candidate, similar to the pro-Russian Yanukovych, the entire pro-Western opposition rallied around him. The Central Election Commission declared Yanukovych the winner of the second round, held on November 24. The opposition did not recognize the election results. She was joined by the leaders of the European Union and the United States, as well as Western public opinion. Yushchenko and the leader of the BYuT movement, Yulia Tymoshenko, called on supporters to hold strikes and go to the Maidan. A tent city formed in the center of Kyiv for many months. Participants wore orange symbols and chanted “Ganba!” ("A shame!"). The driving force behind the youth was the organization “It’s Time!” Due to the fact that Vladimir Putin congratulated Yanukovych on his “convincing victory,” the protests also acquired an anti-Russian character. The Supreme Court first prohibited the CEC from publishing the voting results, then ordered a re-run of the second round, which was won by Yushchenko.

Lilac revolution in Moldova

Armenia: events of March 1 (2008)

Duration: 11 days.

Scale of protests: 50 thousand people.
Victims: 10 killed, 200 wounded.

Reasons: accusations of rigging the presidential election.

The Prime Minister was declared the winner of the presidential elections on February 19, 2008 Serzh Sargsyan. Despite the fact that international observers recognized the elections as valid, the opposition led by Sargsyan’s main rival, ex-president in the 1990s Levon Ter-Petrosyan, brought people to the streets. The protesters set up a tent city on Freedom Square and demanded repeat elections. After intense confrontation between the parties on March 1, the police dispersed the protesters and dismantled the tent city. Ter-Petrosyan was arrested. A state of emergency was declared in the country for 20 days. The opposition accused the authorities of using a sniper to disperse their supporters.

Consequences: in February 2013, Serzh Sargsyan was re-elected for a second term. In the fall of the same year, Armenia officially abandoned European integration and joined the EAEU in 2015. Actions of civil disobedience also occurred after the events of March 1. The most massive rallies were in the summer-autumn of 2015.

Kyrgyzstan: “melon revolution” (2010)

Duration: 70 days.

Scale of protests: 7 thousand people.
Victims: 90 killed, 1600 wounded.

Reasons: sharp increase in utility bills; dissatisfaction with the policies of President K. Bakiyev; economic difficulties.

Consolidated actions of the opposition against the regime of Kurmanbek Bakiyev began after the election of a single leader - ex-head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Roza Otunbayeva. In April 2010, those dissatisfied with the authorities seized the regional administration building in Talas, and the next day unrest broke out in Bishkek. The opposition stormed the television center and went on air. Bloody clashes with the police followed, involving snipers positioned on the roofs of administrative buildings. A crowd of Protestants stormed parliament, burned the Prosecutor General's Office and attacked the Government House. Having lost control of the situation, Bakiyev fled to Belarus. Power passed to the “transitional technical government” of Otunbayeva.

After the change of power in the capital, a night of looting followed; In Osh, interethnic clashes occurred between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

Consequences: a new Constitution was adopted in a referendum in 2010. Kyrgyzstan has transformed from a presidential republic into a parliamentary one. As a result of the 2016 referendum, the position of prime minister was strengthened. In the 2011 elections, Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev became president, setting a course for Eurasian integration.

Melon revolution in Kyrgyzstan

Ukraine: Euromaidan (2013–2014)

Duration: 93 days.

Scale of protests: 100 thousand people.
Victims: 106 killed, 1900 wounded.

Reasons: suspension by the authorities of the European integration process; accusations of V. Yanukovych’s regime of corruption and connections with oligarchs.

After the government announced the suspension of preparations for the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union on November 21, 2013, journalists and supporters of the “European path” through social networks called on people to go to the Maidan. The leaders of the leading opposition parties (Udar, Batkivshchyna, Svoboda) and representatives of the nationalist movement Right Sector quickly joined the rank-and-file Protestants. November 30th the Berkut unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs brutally dispersed the protesters. The next day, Protestants attacked a number of government offices. They set up a tent camp on the Maidan and began to form hundreds of “Self-Defense”. Further attempts by the authorities to liquidate the camp were unsuccessful. The confrontation several times resulted in bloody clashes between Berkut and Maidan troops. On February 21, 2014, through the mediation of European politicians, President Viktor Yanukovych signed an agreement with the opposition to resolve the crisis, after which he fled to Russia and later stated that an attempt had been made on his life. The Verkhovna Rada removed Yanukovych from power. The new president was elected Petro Poroshenko .

Consequences: Without recognizing the change of power in Kyiv, a referendum on independence was announced in Crimea. He was supported by Russia, as a result of which Crimea and Sevastopol became part of the Russian Federation. A movement of disobedience to the new authorities began in Donbass under the flags of the DPR and LPR and Civil War. The Ukrainian economy is in a deep crisis. Most of the legionnaires from the Ukrainian “reform special forces” resigned due to conflicts with other officials. Ukraine signed an Association Agreement with the EU (still not fully ratified). Kyiv has still not been able to achieve a visa-free regime with the European Union.

Euromaidan in Ukraine