Election observation mission – 25 October 2015 local elections – Ukraine

Speech by Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, Austria (SOC), Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Press Conference

Kyiv, 26 October 2015

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Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me first say thank you to the team of OSCE-ODIHR led by Tana de ZULUETA for the excellent co-operation during this mission to observe the 2015 local elections in Ukraine. As usual, the support provided by ODIHR – in terms of logistics, expertise and exchange of views here in Kyiv and in the regions, with long-term observers – was valuable and very much appreciated by the entire Congress’ delegation.

You may know that the delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe included – for the first time – beside representatives of the EU Committee of the Regions – also members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe who usually do not observe local elections. All in all, this enlarged Congress’ delegation comprised 57 observers from 25 different European countries. The large number of observers demonstrates the great importance attached by the international community, in particular by the Council of Europe, to these elections due to challenges at stake.

Extraordinary circumstances deserve extraordinary action. And we are all aware that these elections took place in a very difficult situation for Ukraine – politically, economically and from the point of view of security. Moreover, there is the ongoing reform on decentralisation and the challenges related to the amendments of the Constitution. Therefore, the Congress deployed yesterday 24 teams - its largest election observation delegation ever! – throughout the country, with the exception of those areas where elections could not be held.

In total, the teams of the Congress were able to observe the elections for Heads, Mayors and Councils at different levels of territorial government in approximately 240 polling stations. By and large, polling day was calm and voting took place in an orderly manner with the exception of some irregularities observed by the teams of the Congress. In most of the polling stations visited, the electoral staff at the level of precincts was able to manage efficiently the procedures on E-Day, despite the complexity of the legal background and procedural inconsistencies.

Also voter registration seemed to be inclusive and voters were able to express their will freely and without intimidations. However, information about the candidates – in particular about those running for local councils – was scarce. In elections where voters are supposed to decide through their ballot on local politics, not national issues, this is not a detail.

As this was already the case during our meetings before Election Day, members of the Congress’ teams received also yesterday reports about cases of vote-buying and attempts to bribe members of the electoral administration, in particular in places with tight races between candidates. In this respect, the fight against corruption - notably against corrupt practices during electoral campaigns – is a key element of the ongoing reforms in Ukraine.

It is true that the electoral environment was competitive involving many parties and candidates. However, there were reports about inconsistent registration of candidates and it is regrettable, from the Congress’ perspective, that the law for these elections did not allow for the independent candidates at all levels of local councils.

A basic matter of concern constitutes for us from the Council of Europe Congress – as for OSCE-ODIHR – the new electoral administration, in particular for the tabulation. And we are afraid that this may hold true also for the allocation of seats in local councils – which needs to be organised right now, after the elections.

One of the Congress’ interlocutors said during our briefings before the elections that Ukraine had, after the 2014 Parliamentary elections, a golden chance to introduce a new electoral law in order to strengthen the correlation between the voter’s will and the local elected representative. I agree. But unfortunately, the present law did not meet these expectations.

Therefore, it is crucial how the authorities of Ukraine will be able to improve the legal framework for the future local elections – and even beyond – in how far progress will be achieved with regard to the drafting of a proper Electoral Code incorporating international standards for elections at all levels of government in Ukraine.

In addition, the Congress will look very attentively to the way in which Ukraine pursues on the path of decentralisation in line with the Roadmap agreed and we will be at the disposal of the authorities for any further assistance.

Ladies and gentlemen, at yesterday’s local elections the voters were offered the chance to establish, what I would call, an interim appraisal of elected representatives in this country.

We are confident that the message delivered by the voters of Ukraine will be well understood by the Government, in order to achieve what we all want to achieve:

 

-          full respect for international electoral standards

-          and full support of democracy based on European values.

Thank you!