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


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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

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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

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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