Systemic Violations, Falsifications Reported in Ukraine's Local Elections

INSIDE: • Ukraine Roundtable XI focuses on Germany, Russia – page 3. • Reactions to Ukraine’s local elections – page 4. • Canadian prime minister’s address at UCU – page 9. THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal Wnon-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXVIII No. 45 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2010 $1/$2 in Ukraine Systemic violations, falsifications reported in Ukraine’s local elections by Zenon Zawada lation providing for new elections, a request Kyiv Press Bureau that was denied by Mr. Lytvyn. “The elections were conducted in com- KYIV – The October 31 local elections plete chaos and confusion,” Tymoshenko were held in Ukraine amidst evidence of Bloc National Deputy Andrii Kozhemiakin systemic violations and vote falsifications, said from the parliamentary tribune. “Now resulting in the refusal by most of the major the government is doing everything to bide political forces involved, including the its time and falsify the results for certain Communist Party of Ukraine, a coalition election districts.” partner, to recognize them as legitimate. Svoboda nationalists alleged total falsifi- Only the pro-Russian Party of Regions of cation in the Kyiv Oblast vote and demand- Ukraine said the elections were conducted ed arrests and prosecution of those involved. transparently and honestly, and conformed Meanwhile the Communists called for to international standards. Those parties nationwide protests, and it remained unclear hedging their bets, such as the People’s whether enough Ukrainians would heed the Party of Ukraine led by Parliamentary Chair call once the Central Election Commission Volodymyr Lytvyn, withheld any statement. announces final results. (Thousands of small Though the official vote counts were not businessmen were already protesting on expected to be released until November 6 November 4 in Kyiv and Lviv against the (after this issue of The Ukrainian Weekly government’s proposed tax code.) goes to press), exit polls indicated that the Ukraine’s leading independent election- Party of Regions of Ukraine, President observing organization, the Western- Viktor Yanukovych’s party, was leading in financed Opora citizen’s network, issued the voting with 36 percent nationwide. The one of the most disapproving statements on Batkvischyna party, led by opposition leader the elections on November 4, based on Yulia Tymoshenko, had 13 percent. reports made by its 1,550 election observers. Several high-profile contests were too “The local elections in Ukraine occurred Zenon Zawada close to call, such as the battle for the with violations of international standards Oleh Zinkovskyi, a precinct election commission chair in the village of Bondari, Kharkiv City Council Chair between and failure to uphold the appropriate prac- Poltava Oblast, dumps ballots from a mobile box for counting. Hennadii Kernes of the Party of Regions tices of organization and conducting elec- and Arsen Avakov of Batkivschyna. tions,” the statement said. and the criteria and principles of democratic in Europe,” the statement noted. Batkivschyna demanded on November 2 “Opora’s conclusions are based on the elections outlined in the documents of the The chaotic, often brutal, way in which that Parliament consider and approve legis- results of short- and long-term observation [Council of Europe] Venice Commission, the elections were conducted should put to the Copenhagen Conference and the Organization for Security and Cooperation (Continued on page 5) NDI notes deterioration in Ukraine’s U.S. says elections did not meet election environment, urges improvements KYIV – The environment surrounding tional concerns, but serious problems related standards for openness, fairness Ukraine’s October 31 local elections has to timing and content remained, which com- deteriorated compared to the situation dur- bined with a shortened campaign period to The following statement by the U.S. lems on election day by election ing the presidential election earlier this year, foster confusion, NDI said. government was released on November observers and international experts. the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Most notably, the law resulted in the cre- 3 by the Public Affairs Section of the Some difficulties precipitated by the said on November 2. ation of election commissions in which the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. new law, such as blocking the partici- NDI’s concerns are based on its ongoing parties of the ruling coalition had a large, pation of new parties, were lessened or assessment of the election environment. disproportionate representation and leader- Preliminary reports from election ended by the revisions ordered by NDI said it shares the concerns of credible ship roles, fueling doubts about their ability monitors suggest that Ukraine’s President [Viktor] Yanukovych in observers such as Opora, the largest inde- to administer the elections impartially. October 31 local elections did not September. meet standards for openness and fair- However, other aspects of the law pendent election monitoring organization in State interference Ukraine. Opora observers highlighted an ness set by the presidential elections and of pre-election regulations and atmosphere of mistrust and said the new Opora and other observers reported inci- earlier this year. Domestic and inter- procedures challenged the placement local election law fostered confusion. dences in which: law enforcement and secu- national election observation efforts, of the names of some candidates on As Opora outlined in its extensive long- rity authorities pressured candidates not to most notably those led by the widely ballots, allowed for reported cases of term observation reports, legislative and run and observers not to monitor; election respected domestic, non-partisan mon- improper use of administrative itor Opora, reported numerous proce- political issues – and particularly interfer- officials barred or removed candidates from resources during the electoral cam- dural violations on election day. paign, established unbalanced elector- ence by state authorities – have had a nega- the ballot and refused accreditation to credi- While election observers recog- al commission membership, and creat- tive impact on public confidence in ble citizen observers on spurious grounds; nized improvements in the accuracy of ed complicated registration and voting Ukraine’s electoral process. Opora also and prospective voters were subjected to intimidation and bribery. voter lists since the presidential con- procedures. noted that the voters’ lists have improved test, they also noted shortcomings, President Yanukovych has recog- since the presidential election. Further, there is little evidence to date that the authorities have conducted rigorous such as insufficient training for elec- nized the need to bring electoral legis- Legal framework inquiries into complaints of such violations, toral commission members, which lation into line with international stan- NDI said, noting that a climate character- contributed to the procedural viola- dards through a consultative process. A new local election law with significant ized by such claims can undermine voters’ tions and to organizational problems. The United States is prepared to assist flaws was rushed into service in July. Some confidence that their political rights will be Ukraine’s local election law, passed Ukraine in support of electoral code favorable amendments were made in in July, was cited as a source of prob- reform. August in response to domestic and interna- (Continued on page 8) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2010 No. 45 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFS Bomb explosions hit Kirovohrad President sees no systemic violations tion bloc claims massive fraud in the elections to the Lviv and Kyiv oblast ahead of Yanukovych’s visit KYIV – President Viktor Yanukovych councils, the councils of some towns in of Ukraine noted the absence of systemic the Kyiv region, as well as irregularities by Taras Kuzio ganism” and political terrorism. violations in the country’s local elections. in the elections to the city councils of Eurasia Daily Monitor Although the explosions are being inves- Speaking during a working visit to the Lviv, Ternopil and Luhansk. This fraud tigated separately, Mr. Farynnyk said he Donetsk region on November 3, he said, serves as a reason to declare the elections In the early hours of October 22, three believes they could be merged into a single “There were almost no systemic viola- illegal, the bloc noted. (Ukrinform) bomb explosions occurred in the central investigation. “If the expertise identifies that tions. This was pointed out by both inter- Ukrainian city of Kirovograd, an opposition the explosions are linked to one another national observers and law enforcement Lytvyn not ruling out rerun stronghold. President Viktor Yanukovych then we, most likely, will unite the three agencies.” The president said that the visited the city later that morning. The investigations into one case” (Ukrainski technical problems arising during the vot- KYIV – Verkhovna Rada Chairman explosions targeted the Procurator General’s Novyny, October 23). “The terrorism ver- ing were related to imperfections in the Volodymyr Lytvyn said he does not rule Office, Internal Affairs Ministry (MVS) and sion also has a right to exist,” Mr. Farynnyk legislation. “We will work over it to out that the Parliament will order a rerun a court building. The bombs were crude and said. This version is the most controversial adopt appropriate legislation,

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