UKRAINE: CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION DELAYS BYUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KYIV 001986 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION DELAYS BYUT REGISTRATION KYIV 00001986 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Charge a.i. James Pettit for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Leaders of the Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) on August 10 accused the coalition-dominated Central Election Commission (CEC) of refusing to register its candidates for the September 30 parliamentary election in order to keep the largest opposition force in Ukraine out of the election and began amassing protesters outside the CEC the following day. The CEC has twice voted to postpone its consideration of BYuT's list, violating the three-day time limit set in the election law for consideration of candidates. Coalition-appointed CEC members say that BYuT did not provide the required information about addresses of its candidates; BYuT MP Nemyria told us that the bloc supplied the same information it did in 2006 without a problem. No Party of Regions candidates were denied registration, although all other parties have faced some exclusions for improper documentation. BYuT deputy leader Turchynov told the press (and Nemyria told us) that CEC members indicated that if BYuT dropped its insistence that a doctor's statement be included in the form that voters send to the CEC to request at-home ballot boxes, the CEC will register the bloc. BYuT has now taken the issue to the courts--suing the CEC for inaction--and CEC Chairman Shapoval told us that when BYuT gets registered now rests in the hands of the judicial branch. ¶2. (C) Comment. The CEC may be operating within the official rules, but the optics are of a politicized body engaging in bureaucratic antics reminiscent of 2004. The CEC's decisionmaking lacks transparency--all other decisions regarding candidate registrations have been posted on its website, but by postponing the BYuT decision, it does not have to provide an official explanation. Moreover, although the deadline for registering candidates is August 25, the law says that a party or bloc cannot begin campaigning until it has registered with the CEC, meaning that Tymoshenko could be off the campaign trail for as long as another two weeks. We have reminded heavyhitters on the Regions side that a lack of transparency in this election does not bode well for Ukraine's international reputation--a message none were eager to hear. At the same time, it must be noted that BYuT shares a little of the blame by elevating a small roadblock into a major battle by refusing to refill out the paperwork and hand it into the CEC again. Whether this is an intentional provocation, as Regions has charged, or an emotional reaction to being singled out by the coalition, the incident does not bode well for the administration of the election. End Summary and Comment. The Issue At Hand--Paperwork? -------------- ¶3. (SBU) BYuT submitted its documentation to register its candidates for the election on August 7; the CEC has three days to review the documentation and vote to accept or deny registrations. The CEC considered BYuT's list twice--with a vote of 7 opposition-appointed commissioners in favor of approving the list and 7 coalition commissioners abstaining (one commissioner was absent)--and then postponed the decision. The coalition-appointed members say that BYuT did not supply the correct residency information for their candidates and that bios and addresses on other forms did not correspond. ¶4. (C) BYuT MP Nemyria told us on August 11 that the bloc had submitted the same information as in 2006--there hadn't been a problem then, so why was there now? In addition, they had submitted an addendum with additional information, but the CEC was not accepting this either. A USAID implementer who works on elections administration told us that the demand for street addresses, if that was the problem, seemed suspicious. The form, which is the same as the one used in the last election, does not require a street address and he found it hard to believe that any other party supplied such detailed information. ¶5. (SBU) Note. The CEC denied registration to 47 OU-PSD candidates, 10 Communists, 120 Progressive Socialists (PSPU), and some from others parties as well, but registered all the other candidates on the other party lists allowing these parties to begin campaigning. The OU candidates were denied for not providing a statement that they had agreed to be on the list, while other parties had various problems with their documents. Only Party of Regions was registered without problem. End note. Or Politics? -------------- ¶6. (SBU) BYuT leaders have publicly decried this as a KYIV 00001986 002.2 OF 003 coalition effort to keep BYuT from participating in the campaign. In addition, deputy head of the bloc Turchynov told the press August 10 that the BYuT representatives to the CEC were told that the bloc candidates would be registered if they supported lifting all limitations on the use of mobile ballot boxes. MP Nemyria told us the same thing, arguing that BYuT's registration was being held hostage to cutting such a deal. (Note. Mobile voting was a major source for voter fraud in the 2004 presidential elections, but was significantly limited by new regulations in the 2006 elections. The election law amended on June 1 removed these restrictions, making voting at home once again easy. The CEC is now working on the form that voters will use to request the ballot box, but BYuT has moved to make a doctor's note part of the form. End note.) ¶7. (C) BYuT began setting up tents outside the CEC on August 11--as of August 13, there were about 1000 people there. They also filed a suit against the CEC for inaction in the Kyiv District Administrative Court on August 11--the Court is supposed to hear the case on August 14. BYuT sent letters/appeals to the EU, OSCE, German Ambassador, and us decrying the dirty tactics of the coalition and asking for support. Nemyria also told us that Tymoshenko had been ready to begin a nationwide tour on August 13, but had had to postpone because of the lack of registration. (Comment. That last point rings somewhat false, because BYuT has been putting up campaign billboards for weeks, well outside the proscribed election campaign period, as have other parties. End comment.) Regions: Tymoshenko Provoking Scandal for Political Gain -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) In August 13 conversations with key Regions officials, PM Chief of Staff Lyovochkin, PM foreign policy adviser Gryshchenko, and Akhmetov ally Kolesnikov, Charge stressed the need for a free and fair election process for all parties and the concern in the West caused by the perception of a major party being denied the right to campaign by a technical detail. All three blamed Tymoshenko for making political hay out of a technicality and argued that all parties must follow the rules. Lyovochkin said that BYuT could correct this matter within two hours if they chose to and that BYuT was intentionally provoking a crisis to increase their ratings. An angry Kolesnikov asked why the U.S. was supporting BYuT and the orange forces and why we did not criticize the CEC for rejecting PSPU candidates. He blasted Tymoshenko for creating a scandal. Echoing the others, Gryshchenko said that BYuT was being willfully disruptive and the bloc's leaders had said several months ago that it did not matter if they took part in the elections or not. However, all three promised to pass the message to Yanukovych. ¶9. (SBU) The coalition CEC commissioners, led by Tatyana Lukash, sister of Deputy Justice Minister and Yanukovych lawyer Olena, told the press that BYuT's decision to put up tents outside the CEC was an obvious attempt to pressure them to make a decision. (Note. Regions, Socialists, and Communists had a tent city outside the CEC from April until June this year to protest Yushchenko's call for new elections, without the commissioners once objecting. End note.) President Wants BYuT Registered -------------- ¶10. (SBU) In an August 13 press conference, Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Yushchenko's representative to the CEC Stavnichuk--a former CEC member--said that the President's team believed BYuT had done everything legally and should be registered. At Tymoshenko's request, Yushchenko would ask the CEC to take up this issue again. However, Stavnichuk added that she did not think a court case was the proper way to handle the issues, since it would tie the CEC up in legal proceedings. CEC: Action Pending? -------------- ¶11. (C) In an August 13 conversation, CEC Chairman Shapoval told Charge that he did not agree with the coalition CEC members' objections to the BYuT list, but every commissioner gets a vote. Although he did not doubt that BYuT would eventually be registered, it was up to the courts as to when. The CEC is scheduled to hold a late-day meeting August 13 to discuss the creation of the district election commissions, which are supposed to be formed by that date. It is possible that they could also discuss the BYuT issue again. Even Nemyria admitted to us on August 13 that this could all be KYIV 00001986 003.2 OF 003 resolved in 24 to 48 hours, although it would be a serious matter if it were not. ¶12. (C) Comment. Kolesnikov told Charge that he would put some pressure on the CEC to move on this issue, so there could be a resolution soon. There is a second court case that the Socialists brought in protest of BYuT and OU being allowed to nominate DEC commissioners, based on the spurious argument that the election law says that factions appoint the commissioners and the two opposition parties don't have Rada factions. We expect that the CEC will go ahead with all five factions nominees, but this is just one more hiccup that makes the administration of these elections already look sloppy. End comment. Europeans Decide To Proceed Cautiously -------------- ¶13. (C) At an August 13 press conference, the OSCE-ODIHR long-term observer mission announced that it will issue its first statement on campaign conditions next week. In response to a question about the BYuT registration issue, mission head Ambassador Glover said that they were aware of the postponement, they considered it a technical issue, and were following it with interest--but they had no official comment. Charge in the Portuguese Embassy--Portugal holds the EU presidency right now--told us that the EU has decided to take a wait and see approach before publicly commenting for fear of being perceived to support one political force. The Germans, however, confided to us that they are frustrated with the Portuguese's timidity. They are expecting a "dirty campaign" and are taking this very seriously. ¶14. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. Pettit