UKRAINE: FLAWED LOCAL ELECTION REVEAL POTENTIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 001722

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2027
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: FLAWED LOCAL ELECTION REVEAL POTENTIAL
PROBLEMS FOR RADA ELECTIONS


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Classified By: POL Counselor, reason 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: Contentious repeat mayoral elections June 17
in Irpin, a town of 40,000 people located one hour northwest
of Kyiv, underscored the potential for problems in the
upcoming September 30 national Rada elections as a highstakes
fight for land and power brought troublesome irregularities
on voting day. The former mayor, independent Myroslava
Svystovych, had been removed from office by the town council
on April 3, 2007 amid accusations of incompetence and
nepotism. Svystovych claimed the local government, run by a
local Our Ukraine-Party of Regions alliance, was embroiled in
political manipulation and corruption, with crooked land
distribution deals at the heart of Irpin's problems. Voter
turnout was a low 23.6 percent, with numerous irregularities
cited including: a last minute attempt to disqualify
Svystovych observers prevented from fully seeing the voting;
and one polling station simply refusing to count ballots. In
addition, the Central Election Commission (CEC) refused to
register an Embassy observer arguing that the newly-seated
CEC was technically unable to issue credentials. In the end,
her opponent Oleh Bondar, supported by OU and Regions, won by
a 293 vote margin.


2. (C) Comment. This election highlighted the potential for
the September 30 pre-term Rada elections to be much worse
than the relatively clean March 2006 elections. Especially
troubling were the efforts to block domestic and Embassy
observation of the voting and the territorial election
commission's (TEC) decision to announce the results of the
election with one polling station's votes not counted. Even
if the manipulations were the result of solely local
politicians' efforts--in fact, in one instance national-level
OU leaders were able to rein in bad impulses--it still
suggests that election results can be tinkered with to
benefit certain candidates and parties. The election caused
a stir in Kyiv, but there have been no legal ramifications or
condemnation by any of the major parties. These events also
underscore the importance of a strong observer presence, both
domestic and international, for the September Rada elections.
End summary and comment.

Irpin Politics: Mayor Today, Gone Tomorrow
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3. (SBU) Independent candidate Myroslava Svystovych was
elected mayor of Irpin in April 2006--exactly a year later 30
of the 35 members of the Irpin city council voted her out of
office, in what Ihor Popov, head of elections watchdog
Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU),told us was a local Our
Ukraine-Regions alliance to install a candidate who would
give them access to cheap land. Svystovych told us in May
that she believed that the introduction of the party list
system--where people vote for parties, not individual
candidates--allowed businessmen, including candidates who
were not Irpin residents, to get elected so as to further
their business interests, namely land development. (Note:
Irpin hosts one of Kyiv's more desireable dacha communities.
End Note.) The council members claimed to us that land
issues, while important, were not the whole story. They
alleged that Svystovych routinely ignored procedural rules
and conducted town business without a quorum, and therefore
without the council's consent. Further, they said she was
unable to properly manage the town's daily business, such as
garbage collection, roadwork, and other maintenance, in part
because she fired competent professionals and gave their jobs
to her inexperienced associates. Popov acknowledged that
Svystovych was a weak administrator and disorganized mayor.


4. (SBU) After her dismissal, Svystovych challenged the
council's action in district court and tried to initiate a
referendum to dismiss the council members from their
positions. Her efforts, however, did not yield any results
because she was unable to mount a successful legal campaign,
and OU and Regions party officials in Kyiv supported holding
a new election. Moreovew, Irpin council members refused to
appear in court to testify, arguing instead that Syystovych
had acknowledged the legitimacy of her removal from office
because she registered for the June 17 election.

New Election: Old Tricks Make it Official...
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5. (SBU) Only 23.6 percent of the city population cast
ballots on June 17 and numerous irregularities were cited.
According to an Our Ukraine Rada staffer, the night before
the vote, OU city council members tried to have Svystovych
removed from the ballot. Only when national level OU
politicians Roman Bezsmertniy and Roman Zvarych intervened
did they withdraw their challenge of her candidacy. CVU

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reported that on voting day observers were made to stand at
least two meters away from commissioners, inhibiting their
ability to see ballot and voter list transactions. Popov
also told us that his monitors observed students from the
State Tax Administration's officer academy--located in
Irpin--receiving 50 UAH to vote for Bondar once they provided
a cellphone photograph of the ballot as evidence (the money
was deposited into their cell phone accounts after cash
transactions were observed by monitors).


6. (SBU) The election resulted in a slim victory for Oleh
Bondar, Svystovych's main rival in 2006--by a margin of 3610
votes to Svystovych's 3317 votes. However, one polling
station refused to count its ballots. The ballots were
transported to the Irpin City TEC, which also refused to
count them. In the end, all 840 ballots from that polling
station were deemed invalid, but the TEC upheld the results
of the election despite the fact that Bondar's margin of
victory was only 293 votes.

...Without U.S. Observers - Please
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7. (C) After meeting with Svystovych and the council members
in May, the Embassy attempted to register PolOff as an
official observer for the Irpin election. After filing the
application with the Central Election Commission (CEC),the
CEC asked several times about PolOff's identity, position in
the Embassy, and purpose of the request. Less than a week
before the election, Ambassador received a call from Deputy
Foreign Minister Khandohiy asking him to withdraw the
monitoring application. Khandohiy explained that the
newly-seated CEC, appointed as a result of the political
compromise paving the way for September 30 pre-term
elections, would have to meet to consider the Embassy's
request and if they did so, they would also have to discuss
the upcoming parliamentary election. He noted that the
presidential administration preferred to avoid this outcome.


8. (C) Comment: Khandohiy's concerns ring true as CEC
Chairman Shapoval continues to resist convening CEC meetings.
Given that Shapoval, a Yushchenko appointee, faces a CEC
majority controlled by the Party of Regions and its coalition
partners, he may be trying to avoid official CEC meetings
until he feels comfortable that there is full political
agreement that the elections will happen. They have,
however, met in several informal working groups to study
various aspects of the upcoming Rada elections.
Nevertheless, the refusal to allow international observers is
potentially troubling.

Get Your Land While You Can
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9. (C) Comment: The events in Irpin also underscore the
potential for land and asset grabbing before the upcoming
Rada elections, as MPs and businessmen ensure their interests
are taken care of, even if they should lose the vote. All
parties we talked to agreed that Irpin's land and location
were its greatest assets. With an estimated aggregate net
worth of 5 billion dollars and a going rate of 2.5 million
dollars per hectare, the town's proximity to the capital
means prime real estate value. The debate over how Irpin's
limited property should be distributed and whether Irpin
should develop into a residential or business center was one
of the key catalysts of the political melee.


10. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor