“What WAS the election about in terms of policy?”
The election was 50% about the economy and (like every national election in Ukraine) 50% about Russia. Ukraine’s eastern half has a large Russian-speaking population that will side with Russia in most things. That’s why Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations calls it a “cleft state” and a flashpoint of russian/western conflict. Last election, the pro-west faction won because their base was stirred up by the attempt on their candidates life. Since then, the Ukranian economy has been nearly destroyed by a combination of the global financial crisis and the government’s incompetence, and the pro-russian side seems to have gotten out to vote & perhaps won over some traditional pro-westerners.
What I was wondering about, specifically, was that given that neither Timoshenko and Y... are pro-Western — as we were told on this thread — what difference of policy was there between them?
Or was it primarily about personalities and power struggle, like it is usually the case in Russia?