OSCE: Flawed Ukrainian Elections Reversed Democracy

Walburga Habsburg Douglas (2-L), OSCE special mission coordinator and her colleagues during the organisation`s statement in Kiev, Ukraine, 29 October 2012. EPA/BGNES

Sunday's parliamentary elections in Ukraine have in effect "reversed" democracy in the former Soviet republic, according to international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The statement from the regional security body OSCE came as early results pointed to a win for Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions. According to OSCE, the elections have been marred by "the abuse of power and the excessive role of money".

"One should not have to visit a prison to hear from leading political figures," the OSCE said.

"Considering the abuse of power, and the excessive role of money in this election, democratic progress appears to have reversed in Ukraine," said Walburga Habsburg Douglas, a Swedish MP who headed the OSCE mission, as cited by the BBC.

The criticism contrasted sharply with the international observers' conclusions on Ukraine's February 2010 presidential election, judged to have been transparent, unbiased and an "impressive display" of democracy. That election was won by Yanukovych, defeating jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Overall, the OSCE made it clear that Ukraine's streak of four relatively democratic national elections, from 2004 to 2012, has come to an end with the Oct. 28 parliamentary vote.

The 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which fields the largest and most credible election observation missions, in a preliminary statement today said the vote represented an apparent reversal in Ukraine's democratic progress.

The Kiev Post points out that this assessment is strengthened because it was supported by other international European institutions, including the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

They found that the election included several flaws:

·       a tilted playing field;

·       abuse of administrative (official) resources;

·       lack of transparency in the campaign, the workings of the Central Election Commission, party financing and vote tabulation;

·       lack of balanced media coverage;

·       detrimental influence of powerful groups, leading to a lack of diversity in media ownership and pluralism, as well as a lack of transparency in campaign and party financing;

·       lack of representation on election commissions from some political parties competing in the vote, while the ruling pro-presidential Party of Regions had strong representation; and

·       lack of effective sanctions for serious violations of law.

After Sunday's parliamentary election his Party of Regions has more than 36%, compared to 21% for Tymoshenko's opposition bloc, with one-third of party list votes counted.

It appears Yanukovych's party is also ahead in single mandate districts, which form half of all the seats. The opposition has alleged widespread voting irregularities.

The BBC notes that two international observer missions gave much more positive assessments than the OSCE's.

The 56 members of the European Academy for Elections Observation, most of whom are European Parliament members, said the vote was held "in compliance with democratic norms". They called it "a good election, not perfect but clearly acceptable".

Observers from the ex-Soviet countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) called the election "transparent and democratic".

The OSCE said the election was characterized by "the lack of a level playing field, caused primarily by the abuse of administrative resources, lack of transparency of campaign and party financing, and lack of balanced media coverage".

"Certain aspects of the pre-election period constituted a step backwards compared with recent national elections," they added.

It was the biggest election observer mission the OSCE has ever deployed - more than 800 observers, from nearly 40 different countries.

The OSCE said election day was generally calm and "voters had a choice between distinct parties". Its view of the voting and counting was "mostly positive", but result tabulation "lacked transparency", it said.

Correspondents say the signs are that the Party of Regions will get a simple majority in the 450-member parliament.

Officials said the election had passed off smoothly, with a turnout of some 45% - about average for Ukraine.

Early results indicated the Communists - traditional allies of Yanukovych - were in third place with about 15%.

The new party of world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, called Udar (Punch), was on about 13%.

The ultra-nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party was also poised to surpass the 5% threshold necessary to get seats in parliament. It was polling 8%, according to the early results.

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