Ukraine government recognizes revote results, which draw U.S. criticism

The Central Election Commission of Ukraine recognized on Dec. 26 the victory of Viktor Pylypyshyn, a candidate in the Dec. 15 revote of five parliamentary election districts. Pylypyshyn won his district with a 3,300-vote margin over the next contender, Yuriy Levchenko of the nationalist Svoboda party. Pylypyshyn, a Kyiv oligarch, campaigned as an independent but is widely recognized as a pro-government candidate.

Pylypyshyn’s district was most plagued by fraud out of the five districts up for revote, reported Opora, a Western-financed election monitoring organization. It cited vote-buying, unknown individuals gaining voter lists, voting in groups, pressure on election commissioners as among the violations in the district. On Dec. 25, the CEC approved the results of the four other election districts, one of which was won by the opposition. Ukraine’s opposition parties didn’t recognize the results in four of the five districts that they lost.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv released a statement on Dec. 26 stating its “disappointment” with the Dec. 15 revote. “These elections were not held according to international standards,” the statement said, citing reliable evidence that the elections results were tainted by a large number of violations to election law. It called upon the Ukrainian government to conduct a thorough investigation of all registered violations and file criminal charges. “Ukraine’s government has to use additional measures to ensure that future elections, in particular the 2015 presidential elections, are held in accordance with Ukraine’s obligations to uphold democratic standards.”

Zenon Zawada: Indeed this dress rehearsal is a bad omen of what to expect in the 2015 presidential vote. While it’s become expected for the Yanukovych administration to hold substandard elections (such as the 2012 parliamentary vote), the opposition’s failure to put up much resistance is what’s of particular concern. The events of the EuroMaidan, including the Dec. 15 revote, demonstrate that a victory in March 2015 is there for the opposition to lose. It’s lack of unity (between three parties) and poor strategy lay the groundwork for its potential failure to fulfill the will of Ukraine’s pro-European majority.