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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Western Envoys Call For Honest Election

25 May, 1999 - 00:00

The US and Canadian Ambassadors, First Secretary of the British
Embassy, OSCE and International Election Systems Fund officials speaking
at a special diplomatic news conference in Kyiv could be summed up as follows:
we hope that the presidential elections in Ukraine will be open, just,
and democratic. On the one hand, this news conference was additional evidence
that the West is far from confident about the elections being "open, just,
and democratic." On the other, the West does not intend to lose Ukraine,
but it will not support just any Ukraine under any President.

US Ambassador Steven Pifer declared that he would not want to portray
the future President. This is the Ukrainian people's prerogative. The United
States, he added, will cooperate with any duly elected President, yet his
country's abilities to cooperate will depend on whether the new President
supports strong relationships between Ukraine, USA, and the rest of Western
hemisphere; whether this President stands at the head of the processes
of democratization and reform. None of the diplomats named any names, but
it was clear that the above qualifications did not fit any of the Left's
candidates.

Electoral fraud would badly damage Ukraine's image, considers Simon
Butt, Deputy Chief of the British Mission, since this would influence Ukraine's
relations with the Council of Europe (which is already considering suspending
the Ukrainian delegation's credentials), European Union (which is still
to work out a clear strategy toward Ukraine), and other organizations.

The OSCE does not think that there were blatant turnout abuses during
the previous parliamentary elections, declared head of mission Charles
Magee. However, such problems may arise this time, diplomats admit, strictly
off the record. Nor is it accidental that Canada promises, if and when
requested, to provide financial aid to make improvements in the election
process, and the Washington-based International Election Systems Foundation
intends to conduct a special training course for the Ukrainian Central
Elections Committee. In a private conversation one of the Western diplomats
admitted that his country was surprised that it took several days to count
the votes in the parliamentary first round election, and he hopes this
will not happen again. Nor is there anything casual about the elections
law being described as not absolutely perfect - mainly because it does
not provide for monitoring by nonpartisan volunteer organizations. It was
further hinted that Ukraine's subsequent cooperation with international
financial organizations would be directly dependent on the presidential
campaign's outcome.

Finally, practically all Western diplomats agreed that every presidential
candidate should be secured equal rights in terms of access to the media,
and that the government should not exert any pressure on the press. For
the first time the US Ambassador admitted that there are problems with
the freedom of the press in Ukraine, even though Ukraine in this sense
is still far ahead of Iran, Iraq, or Yugoslavia. No such statements were
made before the presidential elections in 1991 and 1994 and the freedom
of the press issue was not as closely followed by CE prior to the 1998
parliamentary elections as it is now.

Also, no hints were made that Ukraine (i.e., those who will work with
the new President) better make the right choice (from the Western standpoint)
or else. It is not that this would look like interference in Ukraine's
internal affairs; rather, Ukraine's international image is anything but
glowing and growing, as repeatedly asserted by official Kyiv - even against
the background of uncertainty in Russia and soft dictatorship in Belarus.

"Why do you think that Ukraine will want to change the tradition of
the previous four elections?" asked Canadian Ambassador Derek Fraser. Indeed,
what makes us think so and makes the West so vigilant about the coming
Ukrainian elections?

 

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