This weekend saw the fall of the Ukrainian government (Walker & Salem, 2014). After massive protests in the face of violent suppression that began in November 2013, it became the latest in a line of governments over the last four years to have fallen in the face of popular movements.
Following the outbreak of the Arab Spring, which set off this recent trend, many regimes have been rocked, and a few tumbled. In Tunisia, where the Arab Spring itself began, the toppled regime has now, four years on, enacted a modern constitution (BBC, 2014).
That constitution represents a beacon of hope for the people of Ukraine. But it should also be a lighthouse warning of turbulent waters and rocky shores ahead.
Massive organised protest managed to oust the Tunisian government in just four months, with the free elections following seven months later. Yet after the speed of all of these initial changes, it has taken a further three years to confirm the shape of the new institutions to follow. Those interim years have been filled with assassinations and political deadlock, as the different factions struggled to control the country's future (Legge, 2013).
For the Ukraine's Euromaidan movement, this moment, right now, is one filled with the joy of victory but also with the want for rest after hard labours. On her arrival on Saturday at the Maidan Square in Kiev (Walker, 2014), the heart of the Ukrainian protests, former President and newly freed political prisoner Ms Yulia Tymoshenko praised the protesters but also called upon to keep up their energy:
'Now you have a right to rule this country and decide for this country. Ukraine has an opportunity to build its own future today.'
The fact remains that political freedom and civil liberty are hard won products of a long and arduous journey, of which the committing of ideals to paper and to law is only a step along the way. The full realisation of a free state is a symphony of many pieces, all playing in concert - many and diverse voices finding a way to harmonise - which means, above all else, that people will need tolerance and perseverance to prevail.
Tunisia has so far shown Ukraine the hard road ahead, the compromises that need to be made by competing factions to build a state. Now, as Ukraine takes to that road itself, one eye should be kept on what happens next in Tunisia. They should be watching to see what happens after the institutions are established and how hard it will be to live the ideals committed to paper.
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References:
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+ Shaun Walker & Harriet Salem's 'Ukraine: 'The dictatorship has fallen.' But what will take its place?'; in The Guardian; 22 February 2014.
+ BBC's 'Tunisia assembly passes new constitution'; 27 January 2014.
+ James Legge's 'Tunisia shocked by assassinations: Opposition leaders Mohamed Brahmi and Chokri Belaid killed with the same gun'; in The Independent; 26 July 2013.
+ Shaun Walker's 'Ukraine's former PM rallies protesters after Yanukovych flees Kiev'; in The Guardian; 22 February 2014.
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