Ukraine investigating alleged vote-buying scheme involving Fatherland party

Ukrainian law enforcement authorities announced on Feb.
21 they were conducting more than 50 searches that day as part of an
investigation into the organization of a national “elections pyramid”
voting-buying scheme. At a press conference, SBU Deputy Head Viktor Kononenko
presented evidence of vote-buying, including tens of thousands of dollars,
payment lists, and audio recordings. Though he declined to name anyone involved
in order to “not to politicize the situation,” evidential documents posted on
the SBU website included the name of MP Ruslan Bohdan of the Fatherland party.
Meanwhile, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, citing an anonymous source,
reported that Fatherland MP Valeriy Dubil organized and financed the
vote-buying pyramid. No criminal cases have been opened so far.

Tymoshenko campaign spokesman Vitaliy Riabtsev
confirmed the same day that law enforcement officers were conducting searches
of its volunteer offices in Zaporizhia, Ukraine’s sixth-largest city that is
situated in the country’s southeast. The SBU also conducted its searches in the
Khmelnytskiy region in western Ukraine, claiming the pyramid scheme planned to
involve paying 600,000 voters each UAH 300 (USD 11) in each of Ukraine’s
regions, Kononenko said. The SBU has conducted its investigations in
conjunction with the Prosecutor General’s Office and State Bureau of
Investigations.

Zenon Zawada: Regardless
of whether they produce any prosecutions, these investigations are the
Poroshenko campaign’s retaliation for Tymoshenko’s accusations of having organized
a massive vote-buying scheme. Besides the evidence presented here, the
Western-financed Opora election monitoring organization has also received
reports that the Tymoshenko campaign was involved in vote-buying (in addition
to the Poroshenko campaign). On the one hand, these investigations are
disturbing because they point to the possible politicization of law enforcement
bodies during an election campaign. That’s particularly interesting considering
the State Bureau of Investigations is sponsored by Western institutions such as
the EU, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. In his remarks, Kononenko
also claimed that Russian nationals were involved and cooperated with
Ukrainians in the scheme, which could be an attempt to smear the Tymoshenko
campaign as having links to Russia (particularly if such alleged crimes aren’t
eventually confirmed by a court).

Yet on the other hand, the exposure of the alleged
pyramid scheme not only points to important law enforcement work (that is, if
convictions are produced). It also confirms the high sophistication of
Poroshenko political team in combatting its political rivals, especially in
defending against the damaging vote-buying accusations that Tymoshenko has
leveled in recent weeks. The Poroshenko administration demonstrated such
sophistication in dealing with former Odesa Regional Administration Head
Mikheil Saakashvili, who was gaining momentum in organizing maidan-style
protests in Kyiv before he was efficiently deported (in a way that was legally questionable)
with minimal admonition from Western authorities. We expect to see this level
of sophistication in “managing” the election results.