Dodgy local elections provide a glimpse of the new Ukraine

[IreneLviv]

An interesting article in The Economist
Ukraine's government: Life under Yanukovich | The Economist

[bkrevel]

Ukrainians has better start revving up the engine of the Orange Revolution.........or Yanukalin will win.

I do my part by post daily comments in the Kyiv Post, urging citizens to protest against Yanuk,,,,,,,,do not give up,,,,,,it will not be easy to remove him from power,,,,,but it can be done.

Ukraine is still a democracy,,,,,use the tools it supplies. It will be hard and a struggle.

The French Revolution started in the late 1700s, , the USA had a bloody American Revolution in 1850, Canada started our democracy in 1867,,,,,,,,,,

The people must rise up and make change.......to sit back and do nothing........then Yanuk will win.

And that is a scary thought!!

BLESS UKRAINE!!

[Lvivske]

the protests against the tax code hopefully will pick up more

Ukraine needs a revolution to weed out the oligarchs and Russians who have diseased our nation

[Gotno Gizmo]

Ukraine needs a revolution to weed out the oligarchs and Russians who have diseased our nation
__________________

Yes, but Ukraine is not the only country where oligarch interests are strongly given consideration by career politicians.
Ireland has objected to France's requirement that it raises it's Corporation Tax from 12.5% in return for a finacial loan from the EU. France says Ireland has the lowest Corporation Tax within the EU and is thus unfair competitition to other EU states. Ireland has said that Corporation Tax is not open for discussion.

[Gotno Gizmo]

Reaction from the European Union

High Representative for International Affairs and Security Policy of the ‘European Union’ Catherine Ashton expressed concerns over the local elections in Ukraine. In her opinion, the messages relayed by representatives of numerous observation missions detailing violations during the elections on October 31st have undermined confidence in Ukraine’s ability to perform elections let alone strengthen its democracy.

Representatives from the ‘Council of Europe’ observer mission noted that the local elections did not meet the full standards of the ‘Council of Europe’. Head of the Delegation of the Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities of Europe H.Mosler-Tornstrom focused his comments on the fact that the voting procedures did not meet European standards for fair, transparent and professionally organized elections.

Meanwhile, President of the ‘European Peoples Party’ Wilfred Martens expressed his disappointment at how local elections were enacted, concluding that this situation proves a significant retreat from democratic standards in Ukraine.

Member of European Parliament from the ‘Green’ faction Rebecca Harus aptly noted that Ukrainian opposition parties should take care to prepare a political agenda of some genuine merit.

An observer from the ‘Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe’ N. Mermahen noted that about 60% of the population expected violations and manipulations before the elections. The credibility and legitimacy of the Ukrainian political system has once again come under doubt.

Reaction from the United States

The government of the ‘United States’ said in a statement that the local elections in Ukraine on October 31st were not at the level of openness and fairness established in the recent presidential elections; held in early 2010. According to the U.S. government, the primary source of problems on Election Day was the Law on Local Elections, adopted by Parliament in July this year, which allowed the administrative resources to be used to build pressure during the local elections, creating an imbalance in the composition of election commissions, subsequently complicating the procedures of registration and voting.

On November 3rd the ‘U.S. Embassy’ in Ukraine published a statement that described the elections on the 31st of October as a step backwards when compared to the recent presidential elections.

The ‘National Democratic Institute’ commented that the environment surrounding the local elections on October 31st was significantly worse than the presidential election earlier this year.

Reaction from within Ukraine

Chairman of the Ukrainian civic network ‘OPORA’ Olga Ayvazovskaya announced that the local elections in Ukraine took place in non-compliance with international standards because they did not ensure a fair, transparent and democratic process.

According to statements from the Chairman of the ‘Committee of Voters of Ukraine’ (CVU) A.Chernenko, the elections were far from a step forward for Ukrainian democracy.

Observers from the ‘Civic Assembly of Ukraine’ concluded that the country has turned a blind eye to abuses of political power - allowing democratic standards and freedoms to slip into neglect. They gave the assessment that the local election campaign was the worst of its kind in the last 5 years.

Official reaction

The President of Ukraine noted that the problems that arose during the local elections related to imperfections within the electoral legislation. According to the President whilst there were various technical problems, systemic violations of the election process were entirely absent.

Envoys of the Minister of foreign affairs Konstantin Gryshchenko explained that Ukrainian democracy is still very much alive at this time. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry announced that it expects a fruitful cooperation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe in the field of improving the electoral legislation and plans to use their recommendations for the development of democratic institutions in Ukraine.