Election process in Ukraine 'oligarchicized' by authorities - head of PACE observer team

15:43, 29.10.2012 1 min read

The head of the PACE observer team in Ukraine, Andreas Gross, accused the Ukrainian authorities of "oligarchicizing" the election process.

Ukrainians deserved a better result from the past election, a statement issued by European observers on Monday quoted him as saying.

The entire election process was "oligarchicized", which meant that people were deprived of an opportunity to control the election and had lost faith in it, Gross said.

He regretted that the Ukrainian society's enormous democratic potential had not been realized during Sunday's vote.

Audrey Glover, head of the OSCE/ODIHR long-term election observation mission, stressed that the absence of adequate response on the part of the authorities to various violations during the vote created an atmosphere of impunity, which cast doubt on both the election and the democratic gains Ukraine has been demonstrating up to now.