Ukraine parliament dismisses election commission chair

Ukraine’s parliament voted on July 4 to dismiss the chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Volodymyr Shapoval, in accordance with his reaching the retirement age of 65. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, head of the largest opposition parliamentary faction Fatherland, declared from the tribune that Shapoval never submitted his resignation, which would have been required in order for a vote on his dismissal to take place. Parliamentary Chair Volodymyr Rybak stated on July 1 that Shapoval had submitted his resignation letter, drawing criticism from the Fatherland party that he misled the public. At the same session, the parliamentary majority elected a new commissioner to the CEC, who is widely viewed as favoring the government.

Zenon Zawada: The opposition forces were fighting to keep Shapoval as election commission chair because his track record has proven as more-or-less objective in terms of assessing election conditions and tallies. The resignation letter was a mere technicality in that fight. Yet the bigger picture is that the Presidential Administration will be gaining control of the Central Election Commission with its appointments, which threatens the verity of the 2015 presidential vote count.

Recall that during the 2004 presidential elections, Ukraine’s Supreme Court ruled that state authorities violated election laws that produced a fraudulent victory in favor of Viktor Yanukovych and ordered a revote. At that time, current President Yanukovych was prime minister and current Prime Minister Mykola Azarov was his first deputy. The opposition expects they will resort to fraud again.