ANALYSIS: European monitors note progress in democracy, but remain worried (04/14/02)

ANALYSIS

European monitors note progress in democracy, but remain worried

by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

The parliamentary election in Ukraine was monitored by the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM), a joint effort of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (including the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

On April 1 in Kyiv, the IEOM made public its statement of preliminary findings and conclusions regarding the 2002 election campaign in Ukraine. The IEOM concluded that, in general, the election on March 31 indicated progress over the 1998 parliamentary ballot toward meeting international commitments and standards, although major flaws persist.

According to the IEOM, the new election law adopted in October 2001 marked a significant improvement compared to previous legislation. A major innovation in the law was the provision allowing the formation of multi-party district and polling-station election commissions, including proportional distribution of leadership positions to participating parties. A major drawback of the law was the lack of a clear provision obliging the election authorities to publish detailed election results from each polling station.

The IEOM noted, however, that the law was poorly implemented, since the distribution of leadership positions on district and polling-station commissions was skewed in favor of the pro-government For a United Ukraine bloc.

The IEOM concluded that the election was administered in an orderly and timely fashion by the Central Election Commission (CEC), whose sessions were open to political parties and blocs, as well as to the media and observers. However, the mission said the printing of ballots was not sufficiently transparent, since the CEC has issued no documents on the process of their printing, storage, transfer and delivery. The disqualification of candidates from the election race on charges of providing false property and income declarations also was problematic, according to the IEOM.

The IEOM questioned the reliability of voter lists in Ukraine, saying they contain outdated information, deceased persons, and voters who have moved to other districts or have left the country but are still listed in their former places of residence. The IEOM also disapproved of the official and massive practice of issuing absentee ballots to voters, allowing them to vote in constituencies not related to their places of residence. The IEOM recorded that in this way voters were added to registers and allowed to vote in some 33 percent of polling stations visited by IEOM monitors. IEOM monitors also took note of voters being bused across constituency lines to cast ballots.

Regarding major drawbacks in the campaigning, the IEOM said these included abuses of administrative resources by the authorities and biased campaign coverage in the media. The main, although not the exclusive, beneficiary of such violations was For a United Ukraine, which took advantage of official positions to obtain meeting venues, used official events to promote itself, and obtained uncritical coverage from regional and local media outlets. Oblast chairmen and other regional officials were seen campaigning in favor of some candidates.

The IEOM concluded that the voting on March 31 was conducted in a generally calm atmosphere, although in some cases premises were inadequate and voters had to stand in long lines to cast ballots. The mission noted, however, that some 5 percent of visited polling stations appeared to have an excessive number of ballots, while in 40 percent of observations the secrecy of voting was violated. In 8 percent of monitored stations unauthorized persons, in most cases police, appeared to be directing the polling process.

"We are encouraged by the progress made, but the final conclusion on whether these elections have brought Ukraine closer to international standards will depend on the role of the election administration and the judiciary in the post-election phase," said Bruce George, the vice-president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and special coordinator of the OSCE chairman in office for these elections.

According to the IEOM, the CEC can take steps to increase the level of trust among voters and contestants by ordering the district election commissions to publish without delay all summary tables or worksheets prepared for the tabulation of results, and to list in detail the results of each polling station. This will permit an independent audit of the tabulated results by voters, media representatives, contestants and observers alike. Such a move, or the lack of it, will influence the final conclusion of the IEOM on the Ukrainian election. Another factor affecting the final conclusion will be the resolution of election disputes and the respective roles the CEC, district commissions and courts will have in the process.

Jan Maksymiuk is the Belarus, Ukraine and Poland specialist on the staff of RFE/RL Newsline.

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