Ukraine police open 19 criminal cases related to local elections

Ukrainian police reported on May 3 they have opened 19
criminal cases related to the local elections held on Apr. 29, which were
conducted in four cities and 36 villages. The most common violation was
vote-buying, said this week Committee of Voters of Ukraine Head Oleksiy Koshel,
whose organization reported 25 such incidents. Referring to these elections as
the dirtiest since autumn 2015, Koshel said attempts were made to organize
systemic vote-buying “that could take on a national scale during the 2019 parliamentary
elections.” No criminal charges were filed related to elections held in 2014
and 2015, and the very lack of punishment “allowed politicians to transform the
elections to a vote-buying supermarket,” Koshel said.

Ukrainian President Poroshenko asked law enforcement
bodies on May 2 to investigate reports of vote-buying during the Apr. 29
elections. “I was very disturbed by the number of vote-buying incidents by
certain political forces,” he said. “It is absolutely unacceptable to me, as
the guarantor of election rights.” Among those engaged in the most violations
was the Fatherland party, Koshel said, which is led by leading presidential
contender Yulia Tymoshenko.

Zenon Zawada: We have been expecting a dirty election campaign, and extensive violations,
for the presidential elections scheduled for March 2019. These elections merely
confirmed what’s brewing ahead, though we don’t expect the rule-breaking will
be enough to disqualify the March results. Although the Fatherland party may
have been the main culprit this time, we expect the president’s party will be
just as active in the future, especially with its access to government
resources. At the same time, Tymoshenko could also gain valuable access should
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov decide to ally with her.