Oekraïense presidentsverkiezingen, de oppositie op winst

quote:

Ukraine: Voters Go To Polls In Crucial Presidential Vote
By Askold Krushelnycky

The second and decisive round of Ukraine's presidential election began this morning and many Ukrainian and foreign observers believe the result will decide whether Ukraine deepens its democracy and turns to the West or is drawn closer into Moscow's orbit and heads down the increasingly autocratic route of Russia and Belarus. The two candidates are the pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the pro-democracy leader of the opposition Our Ukraine coalition, Viktor Yushchenko, who narrowly won the election's first round on 31 October. International observers said the first round was deeply flawed and backed many of the opposition allegations accusing the government of using dirty tricks and intimidation to help Yanukovych. The opposition has vowed it will hold mass demonstrations if the government again uses massive fraud to influence the results of today's election. Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has vowed that the vote will be honest, while also warning that "certain political forces" are trying to seize power, seen as a clear allusion to Yushchenko.


For more coverage of the presidential election in the Ukrainian language, see our Ukrainian Service website

Kyiv, 21 November 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Ukraine's second, decisive round of the presidential election began early this morning with the opposition making allegations that the government was using fraud to help its candidate Prime Mkinister Viktor Yanukovych.

The opposition "Our Ukraine" coalition led by candidate Viktor Yushchenko, said that the government was bussing the same people around different polling stations so they could vote multiple times using specially issued absentee voting documents.

Many state employees have come forward across the country in recent days to say they were being forced to take part in absentee voter fraud if they wanted to keep their jobs. The opposition and election observers said the method had been used massively in the first round.

Students from the pro-opposition youth group, Pora, layed down in front of buses this morning that they alleged were carrying such fraudulent voters, preventing them leaving. They shouted "shame" and "strength through unity" during the protest.

Most of the people boarding the buses refused to speak but one man, who did not give his name, said they were not going to vote but were all going on a picnic.

"These people are going out for a picnic. The weather is bad in Kyiv so they are off for a picnic," he claimed.

Some 27 million registered voters are expected to cast ballots at more than 35,000 polling sites.

Voting was proceeding peacefully in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Much of the country was hit by snow storms yesterday. Today was sunny in Kyiv without snowfall but cold with plenty of ice.

That, said Oleksandr Vanurykhin, the head of one polling station in a school on a steep hill, was preventing many voters from coming: "In comparison with the first round about half the people have come to vote. We understand that this is because of the bad weather. There is ice and lots of people are afraid of falling over and being injured. There are a lot less elderly people than last time."

Serhiy Kivalov, chairman of Ukraine's Central Election Commission, said a policeman was murdered at a voting site in the village of Molodetska in the central Cherkassy region.

Kivalov said voting in Molodetska was temporarily halted. No further details were immediately available.

Kivalov said voting was also stopped in the western Volyn region after unknown persons stole a polling site's safe containing voting lists.The opposition and its sympathizers, like the Pora group, have warned that they will stage massive demonstrations in the capital and elsewhere beginning tonight if they believe the results of the election are falsified by the government.

Yanukovych and the person who nominated him as the regime's candidate, incumbent President Leonid Kuchma, have accused the opposition of preparing to use terrorism and violence to bring about a revolution.

In a television address last night where Kuchma abandoned any neutrality, he praised Yanukovych, and wore a tie in Yanukovych's blue and white campaign colors.

Kuchma warned the opposition was calling for violence and would provoke bloodshed: "II assure you that the government will do everything to ensure that the second round of the election will happen peacefully. The government will not allow the democratic process of the election to be transformed into nondemocratic violence which is revolution."

He said the opposition might try to use exit polls to prove the government had falsified the vote but that only the results announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC) will be taken into account.

"We all know that revolutions are planned by dreamers, are accomplished by fanatics, and the resulting situation is exploited by dishonorable people. There will be no revolution."

Troops, armored cars, and barbed wire encircled the CEC this morning.

Yushchenko is pro-Western and has a track record of democratic reforms and fighting corruption when he was prime minister from 2000 to 2001. He says cooperation with Russia is important but advocates European Union and NATO membership.

Yanukovych is pro-Russian and sees Ukraine's future in a Moscow-led Single Economic Zone comprised of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. He has courted Ukraine's millions of ethnic Russians, promising dual nationality and that Russian would become a second state language.

quote:

Exit Poll Shows Yushchenko Ahead In Ukrainian Election

21 November 2004 -- An exit poll indicates that opposition challenger Viktor Yushchenko is ahead of Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine's presidential race today.


The exit poll shows Yushchenko has collected 58 percent of the vote and Yanukovych 39 percent.

The poll was conducted under a program funded by several Western governments, including the United States. It was based on responses by 20,000 voters at polling places throughout the country.

The election was tense, with supporters from both sides claiming widespread irregularities. Election Commission officials say voter turnout was strong.

(AP/AFP/Reuters)

quote:

Ukraine poll 'won by opposition'

Initial exit polls from Ukraine's fiercely fought presidential election point to a run-off win for pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.
He is predicted to get 58% of the vote, against 39% for the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych.
Turnout was thought to have been high despite plummeting temperatures.

Mr Yushchenko narrowly won the first round on 31 October. He has threatened mass protests if the second round result is falsified.


Counting was to begin immediately after the polls closed at 1800GMT, with the first official results expected to be announced in the coming hours.

The Central Election Commission is being guarded by at least four water cannon and two armoured personnel carriers.

The opposition has called for thousands of people to gather in Kiev's main square overnight to register their concern about the vote.

However the BBC's Helen Fawkes in Kiev says it could take some time for the final figures to be known.

After the first round, it was 10 days before the overall result was released.

Then Mr Yushchenko garnered 39.87% of the vote, compared to Mr Yanukovych's 39.32%.
International observers and the opposition said the first round was a step backwards for democracy in the former Soviet republic of 48 million people, alleging widespread fraud and intimidation.

Dirty tricks

Exit poll figures released by three groups of Ukrainian pollsters have all put Mr Yushchenko ahead, the Ukrainian news agency Unian reported.

The margin of victory they are predicting ranges from almost 20% to 3.5%.

Both sides have complained of problems during voting.

The authorities are investigating the killing of a policeman who was guarding ballot papers in a village in central Ukraine. The motive for the killing is not known.

Police said eight ballot boxes were set on fire in a western pro-Yushchenko part of Ukraine, AFP news agency reported.


Kiev is on high alert, with extra police and soldiers on the streets.

Both the US and the European Union say future relations with Ukraine depend on Sunday's vote being conducted fairly.

During the campaign Mr Yushchenko, prime minister between 1999 and 2001, claimed to have been the victim of intimidation and dirty tricks, including an alleged poisoning attempt.

His critics portray him as an American puppet who will do anything to gain power, including inciting civil unrest.

Moscow has made it clear it is fully behind Mr Yanukovych.

Shadow of violence

On the eve of the run-off ballot, Mr Kuchma - who is finishing his second consecutive term as president - warned in a televised address to the nation that the authorities would not allow the democratic process of the election "to turn into undemocratic violence."

"There will be no revolution, but elections worthy of a European country in the 21st Century."

Mr Kuchma implied that the opposition was threatening to take power by force.

"The authorities will never allow an aggressive minority to dictate political logic. We are already hearing calls for violence," he said.

quote:

Ukrainian PM Leads Vote Tally

22 November 2004 (NCA) -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych holds a slim lead over opposition challenger Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine's presidential runoff, according to early returns from the balloting.


With 75 percent of the vote counted, Yanukovych led Yushchenko by a margin of 0.93 percentage points with 48.65 percent of the vote to Yushchenko's 47.72 percent.

Yushchenko, who met with election officials overnight, accused authorities of electoral fraud and called on his supporters to demonstrate on Independence Square today.

Yushchenko led all exit polls last night by margins ranging from 2 percentage points to 19 percentage points.

Serhiy Kivalov, head of the Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC), this morning denied that the actual count was slanted in either candidate's favor but conceded that both candidates would likely appeal, alleging tainted regional results contributed to the overall count.

(Reuters/dpa/AP)

quote:

Op maandag 22 november 2004 15:04 schreef Drugshond het volgende:

[..]

Dat wordt dus weer een boel gelazer . . . . als de verkiezingen niet eerlijk zijn (waarom worden ze dan gehouden ?!?)

quote:

Second round of Ukrainian election failed to address election irregularities and lacked transparency
KYIV, 22 November 2004 - The second round of the presidential election in Ukraine on 21 November did not meet a considerable number of OSCE commitments, Council of Europe and other European standards for democratic elections. As in the first round, state executive authorities and the Central Election Commission displayed a lack of will to conduct a genuine democratic election process, concluded the International Election Observation Mission in a preliminary statement released today.

Between the two rounds, the Mission reported cases of public sector employees and students being pressured to support the current Prime Minister, Mr. Viktor Yanukovich. Nevertheless, a vibrant civil society demonstrated once again a high level of interest and engagement. Despite serious shortcomings in the process the second round of the election offered voters a choice, although campaign conditions were not equal.

"With an even heavier heart than three weeks ago, I have to repeat the message from the first round; this election did not meet a considerable number of international standards for democratic elections," said Mr. Bruce George, President emeritus of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Special Co-ordinator for the short-term observers. "The deficiencies have not been addressed. The abuse of state resources in favor of the Prime Minister continued, as well as an overwhelming media bias in his favor."

The Head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr. Doros Christodoulides, said: "There were some encouraging aspects which we did not see in the first round, such as a televised debate of the main candidates on state TV and redress, even if only partial, to the imbalanced media coverage. But we are greatly disappointed by the inflammatory campaign language, which increased prior to the second round."

Mr. Marek Maciej Siwiec, Head of the European Parliament delegation added: "The opportunity to improve the electoral process between the two rounds was not used. However, some improvement on media coverage was noticed. It is encouraging that the people of this country did once again express great interest in the election, manifesting a strong democratic spirit. Our delegation will now report back to the parliament with suggested recommendations."

"The figures and reports about the unjustified increase in the use of absentee voter certificates and the even higher increase of mobile voting, cast a shadow over the genuineness of the results," said Mr. Lucio Malan, Head of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation. "Moreover the turnout in some territorial election commissions in Donetsk, exceeding 98.5 per cent, and increasing by 21 per cent after the first round, are unrealistic and highly suspicious."

Ambassador Geert-Hinrich Ahrens, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR's long-term observation mission, stressed that the electoral process was not concluded and urged transparency, especially in the tabulation of the votes. "While this was certainly a competitive election, it was not conducted on a level playing field. However, there is still time for the authorities to take every measure to reassure voters that the results were accurately processed."

On election day, voting was conducted in a generally calm manner. However observers assessed election day less favourably than in the first round, particularly in the central and eastern regions.

Observers noted more serious violations, including some isolated incidents of violence, and a pattern of intimidation, including directed towards observers, polling commission members and individual voters. In a significant number of polling stations, commission members had been dismissed. In some instances, unauthorized persons were interfering in or directing the process, or otherwise attempting to influence voters.

The observers' assessment of the ballot counting process was worse than on 31 October, including poorer overall organisation, and more questions were raised about the accuracy of results reported. Problems included lack of sufficient attention to ballot security and counting procedures. In almost 40 per cent of polling stations, unauthorized persons were present, including police and local government officials.

The IEOM included 563 observers from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. A final report will be released approximately six weeks after the completion of the electoral process.

quote:

Both Candidates Claim Victory in Ukrainian Run-Off
By Askold Krushelnycky

Both candidates in yesterday's Ukrainian presidential election claimed to have won. With nearly all of the vote counted, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said the government candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, edged ahead of opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, by 3 percent and was in an unassailable lead. Yushchenko accused the government of fraud, and tens of thousands of his supporters have gathered in the capital, Kyiv, as the streets are filled with security forces' vehicles.


Kyiv, 22 November 2004 -- The atmosphere was tense today in Kyiv as tens of thousands of opposition protesters crammed into the city's Independence Square to demonstrate against what they call the government's falsification of yesterday's presidential election.

The government candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, was claiming victory by a narrow margin over opposition "Our Ukraine" coalition leader Viktor Yushchenko. Central Election Committee (CEC) Chairman Serhiy Kivalov said final results would be available later today, but that the figures showed Yanukovych had won."We together won. The Ukraine people won. That's a fact. I'm not going to talk about various predictions. We are talking on the basis of the true will of the people. We won and that's it."

"Viktor Yanukovych gained 49.42 percent of the vote; Viktor Yushchenko gained 46.7 percent," he said. "Therefore we have the following result: Yanukovych, Viktor Yanukovych, gained 14,942,478 votes; Viktor Yushchenko 14,120,791 votes."

Yushchenko told supporters today that the government had committed flagrant fraud and that he and other opposition leaders would never accept a Yanukovych victory: "We together won. The Ukraine people won. That's a fact. I'm not going to talk about various predictions. We are talking on the basis of the true will of the people. We won and that's it."

The opposition alleges massive stuffing of ballots. They say many Yanukovych supporters were issued special absentee voting documents so that the same person voted many times at different polling stations.

Yushchenko said the opposition was demanding the cancellation of results in places where they believed there was strong evidence of falsification: "Today we are making demands. We demand the invalidation of results in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, particularly in those areas where representatives of opposition parties were not allowed to take their places on local election committees."

There were hundreds of reports yesterday of breaches of election law, with the opposition making most of the complaints.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe today confirmed the vote fell short of international standards. Bruce George, the chief of the OSCE observer mission, said: "The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election does not meet a considerable number of OSCE conditions and Council of Europe and other European standards for democratic elections."

The OSCE criticized the Ukrainian government for requiring some state employees to acquire and hand over to superiors absentee ballots. George said ballots were collected at the workplace "on an organized basis," leaving open the possibility of fraud.

Yanukovych and his mentor, incumbent President Leonid Kuchma, accused the opposition of readying a revolution to overthrow the government.

On the eve of the election Kuchma went on television to warn that the government would do everything to prevent a revolution: "We all know that revolutions are planned by dreamers, are accomplished by fanatics, and the resulting situation is exploited by dishonorable people. There will be no revolution."

The opposition is calling on parliament to act over the alleged falsification and to condemn the CEC.

"We are demanding an extraordinary session of parliament be held to examine the questions revealed by the election of November 21," Yushchenko said. "We declare distrust of the Central Election Commission and we say that yesterday the commission became a passive, and sometimes active, participant in manipulation and falsification of the results."

Yushchenko has called on supporters from other regions to come to Kyiv. Young people from the Pora (It's Time) group were setting up tents in the square for a prolonged stay. With temperatures below freezing, the weather was making it uncomfortable for opposition supporters to stay outside for a long time.

Fears of clashes mounted as there were reports that thousands of Yanukovych supporters, escorted by police, were arriving from eastern Ukraine.

Yushchenko is viewed as pro-Western. He says cooperation with Russia is important but advocates European Union and NATO membership.

Yanukovych sees Ukraine's future in a Moscow-led Single Economic Zone, comprised of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. He has courted Ukraine's millions of ethnic Russians, promising dual nationality and that Russian would become a second state language

quote:

Kyiv City Council Has No Confidence In Election Results

Kyiv, 22 November 2004 -- News agencies are reporting that Kyiv's city council has expressed no confidence in official results that give yesterday's presidential election victory to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.


News agencies say the city council has urged parliament not to recognize the Central Election Commission's figures, which show Yanukovych beating his rival Viktor Yushchenko by roughly 49 to 47 percent.

Earlier, city council officials in the western Ukrainian cities of Lviv, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk recognized Yushchenko as Ukrainian president, also expressing no confidence in official vote figures.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of opposition supporters are gathered in Kyiv, protesting the official results. Security there is tight, with police guarding the Central Election Commission building.

(RFE/RL Ukrainian Service/Interfax-Ukraine/ITAR-TASS/Reuters/AFP/dpa/AP)

quote:

Ukraine gripped by vote stand-off

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have thronged major cities, protesting at an election result they consider flawed.
Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko told supporters to stage a civil disobedience campaign.

The cities of Kiev and Lviv refused to recognise the official victory for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

While Russia accepted the result, a US observer alleged "concerted and forceful" fraud, and the EU called on Ukraine to review Sunday's election.

"We are very concerned about the news we have had about the outcome," said Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, representing the EU.

Don't leave Independence Square until victory

Viktor Yushchenko
He said all 25 EU member states would be calling in Ukrainian ambassadors "to convey our message of serious concern".

Moscow, which backed Prime Minister Yanukovych, recognised the election result.

"I have congratulated Viktor Yanukovych for his victory," said President Vladimir Putin's personal envoy, Boris Gryzlov.

Observers for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Sunday's run-off vote fell far short of European democratic norms.

Mr Yushchenko, seen as the pro-Western candidate, told thousands of people who braved sub-zero temperatures in the capital, Kiev, not to leave the rally "until victory".

"We are launching an organised movement of civil resistance," he said, denouncing what he called the "total falsification" of the vote which followed days of acrimonious wrangling over the results of the first round.

'Media bias'

Kiev city council refused to recognise the results, and urged parliament to follow suit.

Thousands of people turned onto the streets in the western city of Lviv, where the city council said it would only take orders from Mr Yushchenko.

The central electoral commission said with more than 99% of the vote counted, Mr Yanukovych had 49.4% while Mr Yushchenko had 46.7%.

But the opposition says it has recorded many thousands of irregularities - including very high turnouts in government strongholds.

Mr Yanukovych was backed by incumbent President Leonid Kuchma.

Exit polls earlier suggested that Mr Yushchenko had been on course for victory with a lead of at least six percentage points.

"The second round did not meet a considerable number of [international] commitments for democratic elections," said Bruce George, head of the OSCE mission in Kiev.

The OSCE also reported serious irregularities in the first round.

"The abuse of state resources in favour of the prime minister continued, as well as an overwhelming media bias in his favour," Mr George said.


The group said Sunday's violations also included intimidation of observers and voters.

The authorities are investigating the killing of a policeman who was guarding ballot papers in a village in central Ukraine. The motive for the killing is not known.

Mr Yushchenko's supporters say they do not believe the official turnout figure of 96% in eastern Ukraine.

"I believe in my victory but the government... has staged total fraud in the elections in the [eastern] Donetsk and Lugansk regions," Mr Yushchenko said.

Kiev was on high alert, with extra police and soldiers on the streets, and riot vehicles outside the central electoral commission.

During the campaign, Mr Yushchenko, prime minister between 1999 and 2001, claimed to have been the victim of intimidation and dirty tricks, including an alleged poisoning attempt.

His critics portray him as an American puppet who will do anything to gain power, including inciting civil unrest.

quote:

EU-lidstaten roepen ambassadeurs Oekraïne op matje

Uitgegeven: 22 november 2004 10:36
Laatst gewijzigd: 22 november 2004 16:16

BRUSSEL - Alle 25 lidstaten van de Europese Unie gaan de ambassadeurs van Oekraïne op het matje roepen om opheldering te vragen over de gang van zaken bij de presidentsverkiezingen. Ook gaat Nederland als EU-voorzitter samen met de Organisatie voor Veiligheid en Samenwerking in Europa (OVSE) de autoriteiten in Kiev vragen om de verkiezingsuitslagen tot nu toe te herzien. Dat hebben de EU-ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken maadag besloten in Brussel.

Volgens minister Bot van Buitenlandse Zaken, die het Europese overleg voorzit, is de EU "erg bezorgd over het nieuws dat tot nu toe naar buiten is gekomen". "De tweede ronde van de verkiezingen voldoet niet aan de internationale graadmeters."


Bot riep de Oekraïense autoriteiten ook op hun kalmte te bewaren. "We vragen aan eenieder kalmte te tonen en zich te uiten op een niet-gewelddadige manier", aldus Bot.

EU-gezant voor het buitenland Solana is de unie "extra teleurgesteld, omdat we van te voren hadden aangegeven dat het soort zaken die zich toch hebben afgespeeld niet mochten gebeuren". Volgens Solana is er daarover ook contact geweest met de huidige president Kuchma.