Today and tomorrow are the last two days of campaigning before the elections Sunday March 26. On Sunday the polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. The Central Elections Commission (CEC) has chosen three independent polls to announce the official exit poll results the Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF), Razumkov Center of Economic and Political Studies, and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). In addition several parties will be conducting their own exit polls including: The Party of Regions, The Volodymyr Lytvyn Block and The Yulia Tymoshenko Block. By Ukrainian law the first exit poll results cannot be released until after the polls close at 10 pm. The official results are expected on March 27. The CEC has also approved a controversial plan to allow voters to make corrections to their names on the voting rolls on the day of the elections, a move some fear may open the door for vote tampering. There will be more than 4,000 international observers monitoring the vote along with delegations from the EU and USA. A brief breakdown of news on the three main political parties:
The Party Of Regions: The party has been on a whirlwind tour of the east this week rallying its support base. Regions alleges that the elections have been poorly planned and that the ‘orange’ parties are planning to take advantage of the confusion to steal the vote. Party leader Victor Yanokovich has warned that his party is prepared to create a ‘Blue Maidan” in Dontesk. It appears Regions is trying to use its large supporter base to leverage its coalition negotiations.
Our Ukraine:In the last two weeks Our Ukraine as ruled out forming a coalition with Regions on three occasions, however the President’s sharp criticism of the other ‘orange’ parties and refusal to abandon the current gas agreement with Russia seem to be the sticking points between Our Ukraine and the Tymoshenko Block. Additionally, several media sources have reported that Our Ukraine is in secret negotiations with Regions.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Block: At the block’s rally in the center of Kyiv last night Tymoshenko seems to have laid all her cards on the table. After the tongue lashing she gave the party of Regions yesterday it would be shocking if her party could form a coalition or work with them in any way. Additionally Tymoshenko attacked Our Ukraine, explaining that Our Ukraine and the President were two separate things. Tymoshenko singled out several members of Our Ukraine’s top brass for ridicule and accused them of corruption. Though Tymoshenko did not close the door to working with Our Ukraine, it now appears that she may be going into the opposition following the elections, with the aim of taking down the government once the gas issue raises its head. However, if her block does well in the elections she will have a strong bargaining position.
Voter Support %
Party of Regions
30.4
Our Ukraine
17.1
Tymoshenko Block
17.0
Democratic Initiatives Foundation Poll from
March 6, 2006.