Election observers accept Ukrainian results
International observers say “most” international commitments were met in the first round of presidential election.
International observers have given a positive assessment of yesterday’s first round of Ukraine’s presidential election, from which Viktor Yanukovych, a former prime minister, emerged in pole position.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an intergovernmental elections watchdog, said today that the poll had met “most” of Ukraine’s commitment toward the OSCE and the Council of Europe, a regional democracy group.
“The observers noted that the election demonstrated respect for civil and political rights, and offered voters a genuine choice between candidates representing diverse political views,” the OSCE said. “Candidates were able to campaign freely, and the campaign period was generally calm and orderly.” The OSCE had around 600 election observers in Ukraine.
Ten MEPs who monitored the poll also issued a positive assessment today.
Yanukovych received 35.42% of the vote in yesterday’s presidential election and will face Yulia Tymoshenko, the current prime minister, in a run-off scheduled for 7 February. Tymoshenko received 24.95% of the vote, according to preliminary figures released earlier today by the country’s central election commission. The incumbent, Viktor Yushchenko, received less than 5% of the vote.
Observers believe that Tymoshenko stands a fair chance of overcoming her current 10 point gap in the second round.
Yesterday’s poll signals a political comeback for Yanukovych, who had been the chosen successor to President Leonid Kuchma in 2004 when Yushchenko and Tymoshenko led the ‘Orange Revolution’ and overturned the results of a rigged election.
The subsequent fallout between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko and their bitter recriminations have dominated Ukraine’s politics since then and undermined many Ukrainians’ belief in democracy.
Both Yanukovych and Tymoshenko have vowed to advance Ukraine’s ties with the European Union, and both have also said that they would seek to improve relations with Russia, which have been rocky since the Orange Revolution.
The European Commission today called on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that the run-off would be run equally well. “The European Union will continue to support Ukraine in its democratic development and looks forward to the further deepening of EU-Ukraine relations,” the Commission said in a statement.
Click Here: cheap nrl jerseys