UKRAINE: SIXTH ELECTION ROUNDTABLE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KIEV 001073

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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