Ukrainian World Congress observer mission sees threats to democratic Rada elections

Kyiv, October 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The international election observation mission of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) for the Verkhovna Rada elections has registered a number of violations that raise questions about the democratic nature of the election process, the mission chief and former ambassador of Canada to Ukraine, Derek Fraser, has said.

At a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday, Fraser said that about 12% of constituencies were formed in such a way as to suit certain interests, while district and precinct election commissions were formed in the interests of the ruling party.

"The unbalanced representation of different parties in district and precinct election commissions in particular brings into question the recognition of the elections as free and fair," he said.

Among other violations registered by the UWC observers, the mission head named the use of administrative resources, bribery of voters, funding of planted articles in printed media, unequal access to the media and the pressure on the pressure, which disagree with the official line.

"We're very concerned about the way in which parties are financed and how parties spend their finances. Unfortunately, Ukrainian law has so many gaps in it that it is impossible to monitor this process properly," Fraser said.