Zaporizhzhia Parties Walk Out

The Consultative Council had been formed by initiative of the oblast state administration with the most noble intentions: to jointly work out important decisions and influence the region's life. Before the defections it comprised 32 political parties out of 37 registered in the oblast. The initiators explained their decision to opt out by the fact that "the Zaporizhzhia oblast state administration has joined the election process on the side of the current President. The campaign is being waged with numerous violations of constitutional norms and the law On the Election of the President of Ukraine."

The For a Fair Election Round Table includes not only the leftist parties but also Hromada, Rukh, and the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists (KUN). Vasyl Melashchenko, chairman of the oblast KUN branch, noted: "The Communists and nationalists are now sitting next to each other. Earlier, this was unthinkable even in a nightmare. What has united us today is the high-handedness around us."

Leaders of the parties making up the new organization are worried that the politically-conscious state administration heads of different levels have sided with Mr. Kuchma. The state bodies mount pressure on public-sector employees who depend on them: civil servants, doctors, teachers, public utility and factory workers, and law enforcement officers. Most regional mass media only focus on the current President. A deliberate information blackout is imposed on his rivals.

The participants in the For Fair Elections Round Table are determined to join the efforts of political parties and non-governmental organizations to monitor compliance with the law on presidential elections at all stages of the election campaign. They have decided to meet weekly.