Ukraine's Election

AS UKRAINIANS prepare to participate in the most democratic election in their nation's history today, they need only cast a glance northward to see how much they gained from their Orange Revolution. Early Friday morning riot police in neighboring Belarus scattered or arrested the courageous citizens who had camped in the main square of Minsk to protest last weekend's blatantly unfair presidential

vote, which extended the mandate of autocrat Alexander Lukashenko. Police broke up another protest yesterday.

Mr. Lukashenko awarded himself 83 percent of the vote, a result deemed credible by only one world leader -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backs Belarus's corrupt dictatorship in order to maintain Moscow's dominion over the country. Mr. Putin's colleagues in the Group of Eight nations are rushing to announce new sanctions against Mr. Lukashenko's regime while studiously ignoring the fact that their chairman, who is proudly preparing to host the G-8 summit this summer, is responsible for it.

Mr. Putin tried the same strategy in Ukraine, but the crowds that gathered in Kiev in 2004 were too large to disperse, and the attempt to install a president by thuggery and fraud collapsed. As a direct result Ukrainians will vote today for a newly empowered parliament: Forty-

five parties are competing, and everything indicates the election will be free and fair.

That doesn't mean, of course, that this strategic country has become a stable democracy. Ukraine has had a bumpy 16 months since the revolution. Its government split after a populist prime minister recklessly mismanaged the economy, and the popularity of President Viktor Yushchenko, the revolution's hero, has plunged. Mr. Putin, meanwhile, has managed to gain a stranglehold over Ukraine's energy supplies through a one-sided and probably corrupt gas deal. The pro-Russian party he tried to install in power has made a comeback and could win the largest share of today's vote.

This muddled situation has prompted a debate in Washington about how to manage relations with Ukraine once the vote comes in. Some in the Bush administration are quietly encouraging the Orange Revolution parties to set aside their differences and form a new coalition so as to prevent the pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, from becoming prime minister. But a few experts outside the government argue that Mr. Yanukovych's party, backed by some of Ukraine's biggest private businessmen, is ready to embrace Western capitalism and that a coalition between it and Mr. Yushchenko's party could heal Ukraine's lingering divisions.

Whatever the outcome, continued Western engagement with Ukraine will be vital. To preserve the country's independence, the new government will need closer ties with the European Union and NATO. It may seek a NATO "membership action plan"; if so, the alliance should respond favorably. The new administration will also need Western support to renegotiate the terms of energy supplies with Russia, so as to eliminate the corruption and unfairness of the current arrangement. Mr. Putin's vision for Ukraine was on stark display in Belarus last week. If Western governments want to preserve the democracy that has flourished against his wishes, they must provide it tangible support.