UWC: elections legitimate, fair (04/02/06)

UWC: elections legitimate, fair

Below is the statement of the Ukrainian World Congress regarding the parliamentary elections in Ukraine. The statement was released on March 27.

International observers from the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), totalling 221 people from seven countries (the largest being the delegation from the Russian Federation, at 150 observers) were dispersed across 19 regions (oblasts) of Ukraine prior to and on the day of the elections where they actively participated in observing the election process.

Of a total of 34,000 electoral districts, UWC observers visited over 3,000 (i.e., 10 percent). On the basis of information received by the UWC mission coordinator, the following determinations have been made:

o the elections proceeded according to electoral law and international standards;

o the elections were transparent, democratic, fair and honest; and

o no major breaches of the law were noted.

Breaches that were noticed were minor, mainly of a technical nature, and had no material impact on the final election results.

Therefore, the Ukrainian World Congress believes that the elections of 2006 were legitimate and a fair demonstration of the will of the Ukrainian people.

The Ukrainian World Congress would like to acknowledge and thank the Central Election Commission, headed by Yaroslav Davydovych, as well as other government agencies for their efforts in ensuring that the elections were properly carried out. Especially appreciated was the accreditation of the UWC observers by the Central Election Commission.

These elections demonstrated, once again, that Ukraine is continuing on the road to democracy.

Victor Pedenko
General Secretary

Eugene Czolij
Chair of UWC Election Committee and UWC Mission Coordinator

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