Ukraine opposition claims election fraud in revote for five districts

The Ukrainian government held a revote on Dec. 15 for five districts that were highly contested and failed to produce conclusive results in the October 2012 parliamentary elections. As expected, the opposition parties have reported widespread election violations and fraud, alleging the failure to fairly establish winners in four election districts. Meanwhile, police have reported no violations in most election districts. The Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a Western-financed election monitoring group, reported more vote-buying in these elections than the original vote that was tainted by fraud.

Opposition candidates led the pro-government “independents” by 5pp, 17pp and 56pp in three districts respectively, according to exit polls conducted by the local Rating polling firm. On the other hand, the preliminary results posted by the Central Election Commission as of 11 a.m. today (with 48-92% of votes calculated) show that opposition candidates are winning only in one district.

Zenon Zawada: The conflict over election results reflects the acute tensions between the ruling Party of Regions and opposition, which have been exacerbated by the political crisis. With each passing day, we have more evidence that the nation’s politicians are unable to govern the country on even the most basic levels, such as holding fair elections. It’s an ominous sign for things to come if international mediators don’t get involved and help find a solution.