International observers say elections free, but not fair (04/07/02)

International observers say elections free, but not fair

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - International observers from the West on hand for the March 31 parliamentary elections in Ukraine found them wanting in many aspects, as they reported at various press conferences held the day after the vote. Observer groups from both Europe and the United States graded these third elections to the Verkhovna Rada of independent Ukraine as free but not altogether fair, while underscoring that, nonetheless, improvements were evident.

Domestic observers also reported widespread infractions of election law and democratic procedures, but said that, overall, the improprieties did not significantly affect the outcome.

This year's parliamentary races were fraught with widespread accusations of voter intimidation, lack of access to the mass media for some candidates and the use of government resources to support favored candidates. While almost every defeated candidate and political organization had much to say about how voter fraud led to their downfall - and even the victorious parties noted their concerns about ballot falsifications - election day was much calmer than the run-up to it, according to initial reports filed by most observer groups.

The Committee of Ukrainian Voters, a civic organization that has established a reputable track record of observing elections in Ukraine over the past eight years, said during an April 1 press conference that many individual and minor infractions were registered across Ukraine by their 14,000 observers on March 31, but that, in general, "the voting took place in transparent circumstances and under many of the principles of democratic elections." The CUV added that in the initial assessment there was "no reason to believe that the election results do not reflect the will of the citizens."

The group underscored, however, that since the last elections the level of pressure by government officials and workers in campaigning in support of any party, which included direct pressure on individuals to vote for specific candidates, had greatly increased.

Some 950 observers from many countries and international organizations on hand for the elections - including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe (CE), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the U.S.-based International Republican Institute (IRI) - also observed Election Day polling in most of the regions of Ukraine. They agreed that, in general, the elections took place under democratic conditions.

However, in an example of the very different ways in which the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union and the West perceive political processes and elections, observers from these regions gave strikingly different assessments of elections to the Verkhovna Rada.

CIS Executive Secretary Yurii Yarov, head of the CIS observer mission to the Ukrainian elections, asserted on April 1 while presenting his organization's preliminary report that transparent elections had occurred with only minor "technical" flaws hampering the process. However, observers from several European organizations were more critical during their own press conference later that day, stating that, while substantially free, the polling was not altogether fair.

Mr. Yarov said his team of CIS observers, which included Russian State Duma deputies, noted "some difficulties and violations, but none that would bring the democratic aspect of the elections into question."

"There were no violations of election law other than problems with technical procedures," explained Mr. Yarov. "The people's intent was realized."

His assistant, Dmytro Bulakov, went even further, the next day calling the elections "super transparent" and "super democratic," and far better than anything he had observed in the CIS to date.

George Folsom, president of the U.S.-based International Republican Institute and his observer group viewed the parliamentary vote a little differently. Mr. Folsom explained that his group had discerned systemic shortcomings.

"There was an evident lack of fairness in these elections. To the extent that they did not meet international standards," said Mr. Folsom.

European and U.S. observers noted that there were still too many systemic problems, as well as uneven access to the media for all participants in the electoral process, the illegal use of government resources by authorities, and threats of violence and beatings. Another concern was the large number of voters who were bussed into precincts where they were not registered and allowed to make their picks there based on court-issued change-of-location tickets.

OSCE observers also mentioned the large number of ballots used in some areas - up to eight were issued in the city of Kharkiv for various district, municipal and central elections, and five in Kyiv - and the confusing way in which they were written.

OSCE observer team officials echoed the technical problems noted by the CIS observer team as well, which included understaffed election commissions and commissioners improperly trained in voting and ballot counting procedures. They agreed that election officials had failed to provide proper accommodations and sufficient voting booths in many instances, which resulted in crowded facilities, long lines and people voting near windowsills or outside the polling precinct. All observers acknowledged that family voting and voting by the head of household for all members, traditions carried over from the Soviet period, continued as well.

Andreas Gross, vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said that only about 25 percent of the 1,500 precincts the 438 OSCE observers visited seemed to be in full compliance with Western standards.

"We were satisfied with only one out of four polling stations," explained Mr. Gross. "In three out of four we observed proceedings that did not make us happy as workers for democracy."

Jan Wiersma, president of the European Union's EU-Ukraine Cooperation Committee, added that a positive trend toward more open and democratic elections in Ukraine was evident in general, but that major problems still needed to be resolved.

"The positive thing in these elections was the growing engagement of civil society, which offers a great perspective for the future for this country," explained Mr. Wiersma. "The worse thing is that the election campaign cannot be considered fair."

The U.S. State Department agreed for the most part with their European counterparts in a statement issued in Washington on April 2. Spokesperson Philip Reeker added, however, that the Ukrainian government could be blamed for not ensuring fair elections.

"We're particularly disappointed that officials did not take steps to curb the widespread and open abuse of authority, including the use of government positions and facilities, to the unfair advantage of certain parties," said the State Department spokesman.

Nonetheless, European and U.S. observers agreed with the findings of both the CIS team and the Committee of Ukrainian Voters that, in the preliminary analysis, the systemic problems and individual infractions were not sufficient enough to have seriously affected the results.

They also emphasized that the parliamentary elections in Ukraine were a marked improvement over the 1999 presidential vote and the previous 1998 elections to the Verkhovna Rada. The Western observers, especially those from the EU region, kept the accent on the progress that Ukraine had shown in its move towards developing a democratic system. They expressed encouragement and a desire to continue to help Ukraine move forward.

"In the last decade since independence, some substantial progress has been made on many fronts in a country where statehood and Western-style democracy continue to be fairly new," noted Bruce George, vice-president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Mr. Folsom, president of the IRI echoed Mr. George's remarks.

"Progress has been made, but more improvements are still needed," he stated.

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