Yanukovych Argues the Benefits of Authoritarianism

The Kremlin-backed Ukrainian political candidate Viktor Yanukovych has given a pretty saucy interview to the AP, sharing his distasteful view of the fruits of democracy, arguing for a clampdown on freedoms and political sovereignty, and a closer alliance with Russia.  For any critics of Ukraine’s governance over the past few years, there is a surplus of evidence of ineptitude, corruption, and poor decision making – that’s just shooting fish in a barrell.  However criticizing broad principles such as democracy for their short term rewards and costs is just a ruse to seize powers.

“So what did this Orange Revolution give us?,” Yanukovych asked in an interview with The Associated Press. “Freedom of speech? That’s very good. But what price did the Ukrainian people pay for this? For the development of this democratic principle in our country, the price was too great.” (…)

Yanukovych said his first priority as president would be to revive the use of the Russian language in schools and in the workplace, a move that would reverse the “forced Ukrainization” of the millions of Russian-speaking Ukrainians who support him.

“This is the main question that we have to solve right now, the one that is very seriously worrying the people,” he said. (…)

“Democracy is above all rule of law, it is compliance with the law and constitution by everyone, and in these five years we have seen how the laws have been systematically broken, how the principles of the law have been replaced by political expediency,” Yanukovych said.