Opinion / Columnist
The west must accept the Crimean referendum results
18 Mar 2014 at 06:28hrs | Views
On Sunday 16 March 2013, the Crimean people thronged various polling stations in that country voting in a referendum to determine their issues concerning either their secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia or remain as part of Ukraine but with expanded autonomy for the region. The voting which went quite calmly and observers claiming to be peaceful with no incident of violence or cohesion by influential people have drawn mixed feelings from the west and Russia as both sides seek to control the affairs of that peninsula.
Western countries and Ukraine leaders have declared the referendum as illegitimate as signs on the ground are showing that the Crimean peninsula would soon be annexed by Russia as indications on the ground show that the people are prepared to be part and parcel of the Russian administration. As such, the west which is reported to have caused the ouster of President Yanukovych in Ukraine, through mass demonstrations some few weeks ago wants to see the Crimean peninsula remain under the control of Ukraine.
Surprisingly for the western countries, is that they are forgetting that the Crimean people went to the referendum to vote for their self-determination where they could decide what to do with their country and land of birth. The west has been preaching that people should use a vote to determine what they should decide on whom to lead them. It is also the same western countries which are in support of countries who use democracy to determine their destinatiSo it is worrying and surprising if the same western countries are failing to let democracy speak for itself just because their interests seem to be under threat. Should we denounce democracy if we feel that our interests are under threat or we should let it manifesto itself so that chaos and violence are prevented? Is that not good for the Crimean people to decide what they expect their country to be like in the international community.
For those who want to be reminded, the western countries recently celebrated and ululated when the mass demonstrations which they overtly sponsored in Ukraine deposed President Yanukovych and his government. Now that the tide is turning against them, the same so-called proponents of democracy are crying foul. When pro-European street protesters in Ukraine overthrew Yanukovych, the west did not see anything amiss on that but they triumphed and celebrated in that the so-called dictator was gone.
On the other hand, Russia which is eager to see its ethnic Russians in Crimea getting support from her is closely monitoring the situation unfolding in Crimea with the hope that the Crimean peninsula which broke away from Russia some years ago is reunited with her. So the referendum in the Crimean peninsula turns out to be a proxy election between the west and Russia. So the Russian see nothing wrong with that referendum. In actual fact the Russian are calling for the west to let democracy speak for itself
While Russia is taking a back seat and trying to wait for the results to come out, the west through the UN Security Council has already came up with a resolution calling on countries not to recognize the Crimean referendum results claiming that Crimea's secession from Ukraine may lead to confrontations among countries in the world. Instead of the UNSC to be impartial it has taken sides in which it has supported the western countries' side. Unfortunately for the UNSC, which cannot pass on any resolution, if any of the five permanent members of the UNSC vetoes that resolution, it has failed to make that resolution pass, as Russia vetoed it. Now with Russian vetoing it and China abstaining, the UNSC were left with the egg on its face and now the Crimean people can safely decide what their country should be like.
The western countries are only happy to destabilize countries which they deem to be going against what they like. Is that not proper for the west to accept what the Crimean people have chosen to do and recognize such referendum results as the people voted without any cohesion or force? Already observers have said that the referendum was held with no incidence of violence and that people showed they were prepared to cast their votes and choose their destine without any problems. So the west should realise that the Crimean people have got the right to do what they want and choose what their country should be like.
The issue of self-determination by the Crimean people should be respected by the west as they are the ones which always preach democracy. The Crimean people are now showing the west that they are democratically matured, hence, they are able to decide which road to take and not take. As such the west should accept that and let democracy speak for itself.
Source - Mukachana Hanyani
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