Brussels, 02/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - Marinus Wiersma, President of the European Parliament delegation that monitored the general elections on 31 March in the Ukraine, stated that the European Union should play a greater role in the democratic process in the country. The delegation was made up of Elisabeth Schroedter and Lennart Sacrédeus and which took part in the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) organised by the SSCE PA and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
In a joint declaration the international observers point out that they will only be able to give a final judgement on the elections when the definitive results are known (according to initial results, the main opposition party, "Our Ukraine" has obtained 23% of the votes, whereas the main party supporting President Koutchma, "For a United Ukraine" has around 12%, with the Communist Party gaining around 20% - Editor's note). International observers point out that the outgoing Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) and President Koutchma were locked in conflict for most of the past four years over required legislative reforms and stress that the new Parliament could have a, "significant impact on the future development of the country".
Among the positive factors of the election that observers point to are: A new Election Law that took into account OSCE/ODIHR and Council of Europe recommendations; An efficient, orderly and timely administration of the elections by the Central Election Commission; More streamlined electoral dispute resolution mechanisms; broad spectrum of political choice available to voters with 33 parties and "blocs"; A civil society committed to the electoral process.
The observers indicated the following negative points: Serious misgivings about the motives of a number of candidates; allegations of pressure on public employees to vote for certain candidates; a campaign that failed to inform voters about the challenges confronting the country, and especially, the murder of one of the main candidates and other isolated violent incidents. Observers point out that the most serious problem during the election was the repeated violation of the secrecy of the vote and voters added to registers in apparent contravention of the law.