A look at new law on presidential elections (02/07/99)

A look at new law on presidential elections

Eastern Economist

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada's new law on presidential elections, passed on January 15, clarified the ground rules of the race for the presidency, which many observers say has already begun.

Under the law, any Ukrainian citizen age 35 or over (as of election day) who is eligible to vote, has been living in Ukraine for the 10 years prior to the election and speaks Ukrainian, the state language, is eligible to be elected president.

The election of the president is to be held on the last Sunday of October (October 31). Under the law, a candidate for president can be nominated by any of the political parties registered with the Justice Ministry, or blocs or unions of such parties, as well as by meetings of voters. Such meetings must be attended by at least 500 Ukrainian citizens eligible to vote.

In order to be registered with the Central Election Committee, the candidate is required to gather at least 1 million voters' signatures, including at least 30,000 signatures in each of the country's oblasts, Crimea, Kyiv and Sevastopol.

The presidential election campaign is to be funded by the state budget and additionally from candidates' individual election funds. The use of other funds in the election campaign is prohibited. An individual election fund can be created from the candidate's personal funds, from funds of political parties, donations from Ukrainian citizens and from legal entities registered in Ukraine. The amount of a candidate's individual fund is not to exceed 100,000 untaxed minimum monthly incomes (MMI) and the amount of a single donation from one "natural or legal entity," cannot be more than 100 MMIs.

State-run companies, bodies, establishments and organizations, local authorities, foreign citizens or companies with foreign investments, as well as charitable organizations, religious groups and companies with debts to the state are not allowed to give donations to election funds.

The law attempts to provide maximum precautions against falsification of results. First, there is increased control over ballot papers and vote counting. But most important is the rejection of the principle of determining electoral districts on an administrative basis, which should prevent local administrations from controlling the process.

In addition, the executive is prohibited from forming electoral commissions, a prerogative that goes to local councils. The numerical composition of such commissions is determined on the basis of parties whose candidates are participating in the election.

The presidential representative to the Verkhovna Rada, Roman Bezsmertnyi, has already stated that the president might veto the law because of these particular regulations. The law's supporters believe that a veto is only a matter of time. The fact that the law was approved as early as January gives some grounds for hope that any veto could be overcome by the end of February, making it unlikely that the deadline for calling the elections will not be met.

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