Rada elections marred by violations, bribery of voters, says Vice Speaker Tomenko

10:20, 23.10.2012 1 min read

The parliamentary election campaign in Ukraine has been marked by serious violations of laws, in particular in the campaigning by candidates running in single-seat constituencies, the Verkhovna Rada vice speaker and one of the leaders of the oppositional Batkivschyna Party, Mykola Tomenko, has said.

The politician said in Khmelnytsky on Monday that at the first stage of the campaign the candidates from the ruling party, who are running in single-seat constituencies have either announced themselves the authors of the budget programs for their respective area or attempted to bribe voters directly.

The vice speaker noted that this situation is common in all regions in Ukraine. Representatives of candidates are visiting pensioners and other vulnerable layers of population and handing them money (from UAH 100 to UAH 200 according to different estimates), he explained.

Tomenko said that some candidates were openly saying that they were handing out money as charitable assistance in order to get to the parliament.