UKRAINE: SIXTH ELECTION ROUNDTABLE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KIEV 001073 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM OSCE SUBJECT: UKRAINE: SIXTH ELECTION ROUNDTABLE (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for Internet distribution. Please handle accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On March 14, Charge hosted a roundtable discussion with NGOs on the March 26 Rada (parliament) and local government elections. One NGO representative predicted long lines at polling stations, and attributed the poor organization of the elections to a lack of government meddling in the election process (!). Commentators described the public as being uninterested in the election campaign, and the parties as not addressing issues that affect normal people. Observers described the media environment as good, with equal access to the media for all parties. NGO representatives felt that legal challenges to the legitimacy of the election by opposition and losing parties were likely. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) In preparation for the March 26 Rada (parliament) and local elections, Charge hosted the sixth in a series of roundtable discussions with NGO representatives March 14. Election day simulation: expect lines -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Oleksandr Chekmyshev of the Common Space Association/Equal Access Committee described a voting simulation conducted by his organization and the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) that modeled the entire voting process on election day, complete with 1,500 student participants, ballot boxes, and voting booths. According to Chekmyshev, counting and distribution of ballots to commissioners could take up to 3 hours, and it took 2 minutes to collect one signature for a student participant, whereas it could take up to 5 minutes for an elderly person, making long lines at polling stations likely. ¶4. (SBU) Ihor Popov of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) described amendments to the election law passed earlier in the day by the Rada that would allow for voters' names to be added to the voter lists on election day, with a special stamp placed in voters' passports to prevent fraud. The amendments would also increase the wages of polling station workers from 25 to 150 hryvnias. Popov noted that CVU inquiries found that as many as 50 percent of voter names were misspelled on voter lists, and that most voters were not checking their names on the voter list prior to elections. Popov indicated that 20 to 30 percent of PSCs had not held their first meeting yet, and while this problem existed throughout the country, it was most prevalent in rural areas. (Note: Central Election Chairman Davydovych told us that 541 PSCs out of 34,000 were not functioning.) Administrative meddling, or lack thereof -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The poor organization of the March 26 elections, according to Popov, was attributable to the fact that, unlike in 2004, the executive branch had not been organizing or managing the elections, allowing organizational problems such as shoddy voter lists and non-staffing of PSCs more apparent. Popov said that even if a local administration was using government funds to influence the outcome of the election, there was no clear-cut punishment for the perpetrators, and it was impossible to identify a party or region where such practices were being used. Discussing the overall conduct of the election campaign and media environment, Inna Pidluska from the Europe XXI Foundation opined that the campaign itself was very dull, with the general public uninterested and apathetic. Pidluska noted a steep decline in interest in roundtables, debates, discussions, possibly because political parties had not provided substantial information about their vision/agenda or how they were proposing to fund their platforms. Ihor Kohut from the Laboratory for Legislative Initiatives agreed with Pidluska, observing that political parties had not been clear about their programs, and this could have contributed to the campaign's lackluster quality. Kohut offered as an example that there had been no clear stance on education, utilities costs, and other issues that affected normal people. Media environment -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Discussing the media environment, Oleksandr Checkmychev from the Common Space Association/Equal Access Committee observed that "temnyky" did not exist anymore, but journalists were still passive. Tatyana Lebedyeva from the Independent Association of Broadcasters noted that in those instances where journalists worked for media outlets that were ideological they could be instructed to project a one-sided view, but there was no pressure from the government. Lebedyeva noted, however, that systematic foreign (i.e., Russian) influence remained strong in some regions such as Crimea. Natalya Legachova from Telekritika added that, unlike during the previous campaign, all parties and blocs had equal access to the media. Contested Elections? -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Yulia Tyshchenko from the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research opined that organizational problems could be used by some opposition parties to contest the legitimacy of the elections. Ihor Popov from the CVU noted that, although it was unlikely that the election results could be successfully challenged, the possibility existed on the basis of some parties' claim of unfairness because of long queues and inaccuracies in voter lists. Popov thought it possible that a smaller bloc, such as SDPU(o)-founded Ne Tak, that did not get enough votes to overcome the three-percent barrier to enter the Rada, would challenge the results at a number of PSCs, potentially tying up the election results in months of court appeals. Ihor Kohut of the Laboratory for Legislative Initiatives added that there were endless possibilities for challenging the legitimacy of elections since many things could be interpreted as violations. (Note: A March 14 amendment to the Parliamentary Election law passed by the Rada and subsequently signed by Yushchenko enumerates the grounds for challenging the results at a polling station.) ¶8. (U) Visit Embassy Kiev's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. Herbst