Threats and Admonitions

The Russian Club recently organized a roundtable whose main topic was “Transgressions of the Presidential Election Law during the Campaign in Ukraine.” The key message may be best summed up as follows: “We won’t allow politicians abroad to influence the outcome of the Ukrainian election campaign.” Among those present were several foreign observers monitoring the 2004 elections, as well as political analysts and politicians, who (considering their stated stand) were representing the teams of several Ukrainian presidential candidates.

The speakers painted a rather grim picture of the presidential campaign in Ukraine, citing a number of election law violations; most considered these the result of the candidates’ deliberate policies. Most violations consisted in failing to provide imprint data on campaign leaflets, posters, and brochures, spreading false information, bribing voters, using funds other than those prescribed for the campaign budget, and canvassing election committee members.

Russian political analyst Sergei Markov, one of the roundtable organizers, conventionally assumed that Ukraine was experiencing unprecedented pressure from abroad — in other words, insistence on imposing a specific candidate on the country: “One scenario is being foisted on us: that Viktor Yushchenko is the most popular presidential candidate. If so, he should win the campaign. If he fails, this will mean that the elections were rigged, and that the government is illegitimate.” Several other speakers agreed with Markov, saying that the West, particularly the US, was the main force abroad backing Yushchenko. They lashed out at American and Western European politicians, who have been saying that sanctions would be slapped on Ukraine if the elections take place in an undemocratic manner. They declared that such admonitions were attempts to intervene in Ukraine’s internal affairs.

Viktor Yanukovych’s sympathizers stated that Viktor Yushchenko and his supporters are getting ready to stage mass rallies in case of an election fiasco, but that they would fail, primarily because Prime Minister Yanukovych has managed to achieve serious economic progress. This was the main argument for the man in the street, who will automatically vote for him, even without resorting to any clever election technologies. Vladimir Granovsky, director general of the Humanities Technology Agency, took the liberty of stating that Ukraine’s current wage-selling price ratio allows every Ukrainian to enjoy a living standard that nearly matches Western ones. However, the communist deputies present resolutely opposed this. They said that Ukraine’s economic growth has no effect whatsoever on the living standard. Communist Party deputy Hryhoriy Ponomarenko declared that CPU leader Petro Symonenko would win the campaign unless it turned out to be rigged — at least he would definitely make it to the runoff.

Both the communists and Yanukovych’s supporters were unanimous in their sharp condemnation of “American influence,” which was aimed (they all agreed) at backing Our Ukraine’s leader Viktor Yushchenko.

No Yushchenko supporters were present, which meant that no one could refute the pro-American accusations. It is hard to disagree with the roundtable’s consensus that even the most democratic countries have no right to interfere in Ukraine’s election process, and no one can impose an election scenario or push through any candidates. Yet the rhetorical question remains: What about Russia and its running commentaries on the Ukrainian election campaign? The Russian Club’s press release lists mostly violations of election laws, but the emphasis is on those committed by Viktor Yushchenko’s people, not a word about Viktor Yanukovych and his team — although Sergei Markov told journalists that both leading candidates were guilty of violations. When asked by The Day why only one of the two Viktors was the target of verbal attacks, Mr. Markov explained that it was necessary to expose the opposition because those people were pretending to be so virtuous, while violating the law as much as all those forces that are backed by the government. He also said that the government in Ukraine is incapable of carrying out any illegitimate scenario for tallying election results: “The government in this country is not even capable of influencing government-dependent MPs to form an effective parliamentary majority.” As for the right opposition, he said they could resort to “street tactics” that would be a “threat to the constitutional order in Ukraine.”

The roundtable’s formal summary reads that existing evidence of such violations provides “every reason for requesting the Central Election Committee to adopt measures against candidates who are blatantly violating the current legislation.”