Democracy Watch - Issue 12
Author: Katerina84The reaction of foreign observers and organizations
The international reaction to the preparations for Ukraine's local authority elections have been mostly critical. In particular, the statements of representatives of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), PACE, the European People's Party (EPP) and the OSCE contained a number of reservations regarding apparent violations, by the Ukrainian authorities, of normal democratic procedure.
The key concerns being: direct violation of the ‘Law on Local Elections' code of the Venice Commission, the exclusion of independent of candidates, the clandestine manner in which election commissions were formed, instances of harassment by the security services upon community's and party activists, instances of breach of discretion by members of commissions, the unexplained exclusion of a number of opposition parties in the regions, harassment of opposition leaders and the partial collapse of freedom of speech.
The local elections can expect only token oversight by international observers. The Central Election Commission has registered only 490 official international observers whose monitoring capabilities will be stretched somewhat thinly across the country‘s 12 thousand constituencies. The OSCE delegation consists of only 4 people. The OSCE attributed the lack of full mission to the last minute nature of the Ukrainian invitation. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov promised to assist all international observers wishing to visit Ukraine to monitoring the local elections.
People First Comment:The OSCE attributed the lack of full mission to the last minute nature of the Ukrainian invitation…' Since independence Ukraine has held 5 presidential elections, 7 parliamentary elections and numerous local authority elections all of which have been overseen by the international community. The Ukrainian Electoral Commission is well aware of the time tables required therefore this appears to be a deliberate attempt to pervert the course of democracy and there should be an enquiry. Without international oversight the whole election can be drawn into question. The Prime Minister has sought to assure the international community that the government will provide all the help necessary to the international observers despite the fact that as a result of this ‘oversight' by the electoral commission each international observer will now have to monitor 24.5 constituencies.
The violations during the preparations for local elections
During the pre-election period, various political forces published allegations of violations. Representatives of opposition parties alleged to have been subjected to government pressure, which included de-registration in majority constituencies, manipulation of territorial election commissions and direct pressure on the party representatives by the various "power structures". In Kharkiv and Ivano-Frankivsk for example, the number voting ballots printed way exceeded the number required by law.
The authorities in Kharkiv destroyed 43 thousand additional voting ballot papers whilst in Ivano-Frankivsk some 200 thousand additional ballot papers where ‘accidentally' printed according to militia sources, the Prosecutor's office denied that any such wrong-doing should be considered a criminal matter.
According to a statement by the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU), pro-government forces have, in many regions, seized managerial control of the territorial election commissions and the closer to the election date we come, the more blatant the signs of tampered competition: sponsored materials published in the media, the use of smearing and defamatory materials by electoral subjects as well as the occasional but apparent use of criminality - attacks on the offices of political parties and the threatening of key activists, to name but a few. Concerned experts also point to the arrest of a number of mayors that have failed to demonstrate loyalty to the government and where their criminal cases, particularly in Kamenetz-Podilsk, Nemyriv, Novomoskovs'k, Alupka, Rzhishchev appear to have been conjured up in order tip power towards the authorities' candidates.
President Viktor Yanukovych has highlighted the absolute unacceptability of any restrictions on citizens' freedom of expression and the strict liability of law officials who allow the violation of any constitutional rights or freedoms of the people. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stated that every case of violation of constitutional rights during the electoral process will see direct repercussions from the authorities.
People First Comment:Whom do we believe? It is in the interests of the opposition to cry foul at every opportunity but looking at the litany of reported violations they may have a point. As an example; for the local Militia in Ivano-Frankivsk to say that the printing of 200,000 additional ballot papers was an accident is difficult to believe as it would have involved days of printing time and tons of paper, furthermore there is little evidence that these have been destroyed.
In the governments defence however 43,000 additional ballot papers found in Kharkiv were destroyed and the President and Prime Minister are both on record as saying that violations will be prosecuted. We can only take them at their word and watch what happens after the election. What is clear here is that this is a very hard fought contest where the scent of victory for both sides has replaced morality, decency and the national interest. There are two possible scenarios that either government power is not as strong as it implies and that elements of the electoral commission and the political parties are out of control or the very opposite. Only time will tell.
The expectations of voters
On the eve of the election, Ukrainian and international research companies have surveyed the expectations of voters. In particular, according to research conducted by IFES and the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), 83% of Ukrainians are not satisfied with the economic situation of their country - more than 91% do not favour raising the gas tariff by 50% this year. The population's main concern is inflation - 75%. Also, 56% are deeply concerned about the rising unemployment, 51% are concerned about poverty, and 37% about the level of corruption. Some 36% of respondents were concerned about recent curtailment of their rights and freedoms and yet only 16% felt their rights had been disrespected.
However, according to the Razumkov Centre 58.3% of the citizens of Ukraine believe that the results of the local election on the 31st of October have the potential to be rigged. In the case of election fraud, 14% of respondents expressed a willingness to participate in peaceful protests. The proposed extension of the current term of the Verkhovna Rada until 2015 received support from only 25.2% of respondents, whilst 55.3% - remain strongly against. 48.2% of the Ukrainians surveyed believe that Ukraine's development is heading in the wrong direction.
People First Comment:It is little wonder that 83% of the nation is 5 times more concerned about the economy and inflation than they are about civil rights when over 12 million Ukrainians are now living on less than $3.00 per day and Ukraine has the second lowest level of retained wealth in Europe. Ukraine is now second only to Moldova in terms of poverty therefore it is to be expected that there would be concern at a 50% increase in domestic gas prices just before the onset of winter. The current government cannot be blamed for the sins of their predecessors but they can be blamed for not showing compassion. Rather than concentrating on how to use the powers they have to elevate poverty, hardship and suffering they waste precious time trying to acquire more. One has to ask why, when they already have a perfectly workable majority in parliament.
The election and its results
The 2010 local authority elections have shown a small decline in the overall popularity of ‘Party of Regions‘ to below that of a simple majority and the almost total lack of a united opposition. The biggest opposition party 'Batkivshchyna‘, only attracted 13% of the national vote whilst the radical ‘Svoboda' Party greatly increased its share and their chances for entering Parliament at the next parliamentary election. According to exit polls carried out by the international research company ‘GFK'; ‘Party of Regions' is estimated to have secured 36.2% of the vote, ‘Batkivshchyna' – 13.1%, Party ‘Front for Changes' – 6.8%, ‘Communist Party of Ukraine' – 5.9%, ‘Svoboda' – 5.1%, ‘Our Ukraine' – 2.3%, ‘People's Party' – 1.8%, ‘Socialist Party of Ukraine' - 1.7%, ‘United Centre' - 1.6%. The margin of error was 2.5%.
The police forces throughout the country received around 70 messages regarding violations of the electoral process. However, deputy chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) Vitaly Teslenko noted that only 10% of the reports had any foundation. CVU observers did not note any serious cases of pressure on voters or attempts to bribe them. However, there were some attempts to use illegal election practices, such as re-voting in different regions, which were stopped by the police and by observers. In the opinion of the CVU there are no grounds for the cancellation of the elections and few cases electoral fraud.
International observers generally agreed that whilst there were a small number of violations, including continued campaigning on Election Day, problems with transportation of bulletins at the polling station and unprofessional and slow work by the members of election commissions these were not sufficient to question the legitimacy of the election.
Opposition party ‘Batkivshchyna' claim that the election did not comply with democratic standards citing the removal their party from election by the courts in Kiev and Lviv, where the party is more popular and the abuse of power by territorial election commissions'. Commenting on the elections acting Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that local elections have recorded growth of support of his party in central Ukraine and promised to cooperate with opposition candidates who win, if they engage in practical action to resolve local issues. According to Mr.Azarov, these exit polls pointed to public trust in the current government.
People First Comment:Despite all the noise leading up to the election the Electoral Commission appears to have organized and managed a free and fair election. However an election is not just what happens on the day but what has led up to the day of the vote. Clearly whilst the election day itself was compliant with international standards the days leading up to it were not. The Presidential administration may like to consider this as a coup for the President who has come under considerable pressure from both the national and international community but there are still more questions than answers and nobody should be celebrating until the list of prosecutions for the more serious violations is published. Let us hope that the President and Prime Minister keep to their word and hold enquiries.
This atmosphere of electoral chaos that preceded the actual vote created the expectation that the vote its self would be rigged in favour of ‘Party of Regions'. In reality ‘Party of the Regions' appear to have had no reason to rig the vote as they were already in the majority in many cities. The banning of opposition candidates in key cities and the unbalanced and in some cases blatantly unfair make up of election commissions coupled with the failure of opposition to offer the electorate a clear and viable alternative meant that the result was almost a forgone conclusion.
What is of greater concern is that the turn out for this election was the lowest on record. This clearly demonstrates that both the party of power and the opposition need to do appreciably more for the people to win back voter confidence
Ukraine has demonstrated that whilst it it can outwardly organise and run democratic elections to international standards a great deal more needs to be done to ensure that they are truly free and fair. Let us hope that this election is a turning point where the political parties recognise that if they want to win elections they have to deliver real programmes for change and real benefit to the people. Promises and slogans are simply not enough. The people want a European standard of living, job security and decent salaries. It is now up to the President and Party of Regions to deliver on their promises.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/democracy-watch-issue-12-3592296.html
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