Recent local elections are first, where central govt does not use administrative resource – opinion
KYIV. Oct 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The local elections in Ukraine held on October 25 were the first in which the authorities either did not use or were unable to use the administrative resource, political consultant Valentyn Hladkykh has said.
"There is the first elections in my memory, and I have a good memory, when the authorities, in fact, did not use [the administrative resource] or could not, or did not want, or there were some other circumstances, but nevertheless, this were the first elections in which the administrative resource did not play any significant role in achieving results on the part of the authorities," Hladkykh said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Monday.
The political scientist said that the administrative resource was not used by representatives of the central government: "There is one significant remark that must be taken into account. When I talk about the administrative resource, I mean the fulfillment of the tasks of the central government, that is, the president and the pro-presidential majority in the Verkhovna Rada. If we carefully look at how these processes proceeded on the ground, then we will see that, nevertheless, in some cities the local authorities actively tried to use their power potential in order to ensure the certain result. These elections took place quite calmly, without excessive exaltation and tangible confrontation in society. If this is the place, then only in the media, which did not spill out into the streets, which is already good."