The ballot paper for Sunday's referendum (16 March 2014) asked Crimean voters two questions. The first was: "Are you in favour of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea reuniting with Russia as a constituent part of the Russian Federation?" The second was: "Are you in favour of the 1992 constitutional restoration, and for Crimea to be part of Ukraine?"
Even though the second question seems to offer an option for Crimea to stay with Ukraine, it doesn’t really, writes the HindustanTimes, adding that the 1992 constitution was adopted immediately after Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union and gave Crimea the option to decide which path to choose, including joining Russia. The 1992 constitution was then rejected and replaced by another, created by Ukrainians, in 1995.
Crimean election spokesman, Mikhail Malyshev, announced that the final result of the referendum was 96.77 percent to rejoin Russia and 2.51 percent against. The turnout was 83,1 percent, with a total of 1,274,096 people voting. Of those participating, 1,023,002 voted to join Russia, 31,997 voted to stay with Ukraine, and 9,097 votes were invalid, Malyshev said, according to The Washington Post. After only 50 percent of the votes were counted, more than 95 percent showed support for joining with Russia.
"Not everyone wants to vote for Crimea uniting with Russia. ...
Under the current circumstances it’s impossible to tell what the Crimean people will really vote for. Many people in Kiev believe that the referendum in Crimea will be falsified," said Viktor Zamiatin of Razumkov Centre, a non-governmental Ukrainian think tank, speaking to HindustanTimes on the phone from The Tatars, who represent 12 percent of Crimea's 2 million population, are particularly sceptical. Many of them boycotted the vote and do not recognize the result. They are fearful of a revival of the persecution they suffered from for many centuries.
Sergiy Aksyonov, a business man and Crimea's new prime minister, who is nicknamed "The Goblin", cheered crowds in Simferopol and said that the region is "going home". The EU and US both say the referendum was illegal, and threaten sanctions on Russia. Russia's President Putin says he will respect the wishes of the Crimean people, stated the BBC. But Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, dismissed the vote as a “circus” under the “stage direction” of Moscow, wrote The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet President, wrote the following on his website: "Our main task is to stop the dangerous escalation and find a solution that would be supported by Ukrainian and Russian citizens and prevent a new Cold War." After the referendum vote, he told the ITAR-TASS news agency: “They made it and this is good. People want it and their wishes must be fulfilled.”
Sources: BBC, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, HindustanTimes
Under the current circumstances it’s impossible to tell what the Crimean people will really vote for. Many people in Kiev believe that the referendum in Crimea will be falsified," said Viktor Zamiatin of Razumkov Centre, a non-governmental Ukrainian think tank, speaking to HindustanTimes on the phone from The Tatars, who represent 12 percent of Crimea's 2 million population, are particularly sceptical. Many of them boycotted the vote and do not recognize the result. They are fearful of a revival of the persecution they suffered from for many centuries.
Sergiy Aksyonov, a business man and Crimea's new prime minister, who is nicknamed "The Goblin", cheered crowds in Simferopol and said that the region is "going home". The EU and US both say the referendum was illegal, and threaten sanctions on Russia. Russia's President Putin says he will respect the wishes of the Crimean people, stated the BBC. But Ukraine’s interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, dismissed the vote as a “circus” under the “stage direction” of Moscow, wrote The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet President, wrote the following on his website: "Our main task is to stop the dangerous escalation and find a solution that would be supported by Ukrainian and Russian citizens and prevent a new Cold War." After the referendum vote, he told the ITAR-TASS news agency: “They made it and this is good. People want it and their wishes must be fulfilled.”
Sources: BBC, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, HindustanTimes