Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko declared on Saturday that she had proof of cheating in a February 7 presidential election by rival Viktor Yanukovich and she would challenge his election through the courts.
“I want to clearly state: Yanukovich is not our president. Whatever happens in future, he will never become the legitimately elected president of Ukraine,” she said in a televised broadcast to the nation.
At the same time she promised not to call people out in mass protests as she did when she successfully challenged his election in 2004 in the Orange Revolution. “I will not call another ‘Maidan’ (Independence Square demonstration) and will not allow public protests,” she said.
Ukraine’s embattled Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appeared in public for the first time in days Thursday but still resisted calls to concede defeat in the presidential election and resign her post.
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Her refusal to admit defeat signals that Ms. Tymoshenko is digging in for a long power struggle with Mr. Yanukovych.
“It is already obvious today that nobody from Yanukovych’s team has any intention of raising social standards,†Ms. Tymoshenko told the government meeting. “Already, after the election, we are starting to discover huge pre-election deceptions and people should factor that into their future political calculations.â€
The Election Observation Mission (EOM) deployed experienced and trained Canadian election observers for the Presidential Elections to attempt to meet internationally accepted standards for free and fair elections. They released a report today finding flaws in the election process and made recommendations on electoral reform:
There remains an overriding concern that the institutionalization of free and fair elections requires a greater exercise of political will at the highest levels.
The EOM noted drawbacks and made several recommendations, contained in the Preliminary Observation Report presented in Kyiv on Feb. 9. The highlights include:
It is disappointing to find that the Central Election Commission did not register or accredit a single observer from Georgia for the Second Round, despite various attempts by the Georgian EOM to register their observers
If Ukraine wishes to build a strong civil society, and strong and durable democratic institutions that have the respect of the citizenry, it is very important to maintain the right of civil society organizations to monitor presidential elections as an important safeguard for the transparency of the election process
CUF recommends the creation of a permanent election civil service at the district and local election committee level. It is our recommendation that Ukraine reform its election laws and process and address the partisan nature of the election commissions at the national, district and local levels.
An additional item of electoral reform must be the financing of elections. It is commonly known that the current Presidential elections cost each side over $500 million. As recommended by some members of the European Parliament, Ukraine should bring forward a set of legislative amendments to limit the amount of spending by any candidates to a predetermined, more modest maximum level.
Election Observation Mission (EOM) of the Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF), in association with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), deployed 65 experienced and trained Canadian election observers in 6 oblasts (regionals) for the First Round of the Presidential Elections and on February 1st, CUF deployed a further 50 observers.
From Gerard Kennedy, MP for Parkdale-High Park in the Toronto Star:
Add in a razor’s edge margin between shifting coalitions within a few points of one another over the last several elections, which makes every single vote consequential.
That was Sunday’s presidential election runoff in Ukraine.
That was also the challenge for an estimated 3,700 international observers, including at least 280 Canadians, trying to cover 35,000 polls in 26 oblasts (provinces) in this country of 46 million.
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Yet the grim context was belied by the mobilization of half a million dutiful citizens to stage the election themselves through national, regional and poll level committees and by a voter turnout higher than during Canada’s last federal election.
The worn schools, factories and volleyball stadiums that housed some of the polling sites often were freezing cold, yet polling station teams of 16 women and men sat for 15-hour shifts, and then sat again in the hallways of municipal buildings waiting for hours more through the night to turn in their bulging bags of ballots and meticulous count protocols to the regional committee.
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The Orange Revolution lives, it seems, underground.
Their humble ambition has already infected hundreds of individual Canadians, many of Ukrainian heritage, who have grown from previous short-term election observers into admirable long-term investors of their personal time, trouble and hope through repeated impressive weeks-long deployments to help regulate the country’s do-it-yourself election efforts.
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Canadian governments, institutions, private companies and NGOs (not only Ukrainian Canadian ones) need to be linked in a strategy to make us a helpful presence that will assist a turnaround for a country that is connected to 1 million Canadians, on the way to forging a mutually beneficial, special social and economic relationship.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko plans to legally challenge the results of the presidential runoff that opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych is leading, her campaign said Tuesday.
Ms. Tymoshenko’s allies say she will not concede until appeals have run their course and recounts have taken place at a number of disputed polling stations.
According to Ukraine’s election commission, Mr. Yanukovych is leading in Sunday’s vote by 3.5 percentage points with only 0.05 per cent of precincts left to count. Unlike past elections in Ukraine, international monitors have praised this vote as being free and fair.
“We will recognize defeat only after a decision by the courts,†said Andriy Shkil, a prominent member of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in parliament. “We will appeal both the preparation and conduct of the election.â€
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Ms. Tymoshenko’s allies say the election was marred by fraud.
“A decision has been taken to challenge results in certain polling stations and to demand a recount at those stations,†said Yelena Shustik, a deputy with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.
Ukraine’s embattled Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appeared in public for the first time in days Thursday but still resisted calls to concede defeat in the presidential election and resign her post.
Add in a razor’s edge margin between shifting coalitions within a few points of one another over the last several elections, which makes every single vote consequential.