The election races always attract attention of the voters. Moreover, not necessarily of those who are seriously interested in politics. Sometimes it is just impossible to hide from persistent agitation of the parties or candidates. This is the reason why the elections and surrounding events usually become the main topics of conversation. Understanding the relevance of this issue, we asked the Head of Odesa oblast organization of All-Ukrainian nongovernmental civic organization Committee of voters of Ukraine Anatolii Boiko to tell us about the peculiarities of the pre-election situation in Odesa oblast and about the main tendencies of the campaign.
- Anatolii, your oblast organization actively conducts the monitoring of elections starting from 2004. You have already seen a lot of campaigns. Does the current campaign differ from the previous ones?
Yes, sure, each campaign has its own peculiarities and specificity. These elections differ from the previous in few points. Firstly, in contrast to the previous Parliamentary elections this time the deputies are elected according to the mixed electoral system (a half of the deputies is elected from the party list of candidates, another half - from the single mandate electoral districts). Moreover, the candidate can be nominated only once. It means that the person cannot be included in the party list and be a single member district candidate at the same time. One might remember that a similar system was used in 2002...Secondly, it will be for the first time when the line "None of the above" will be absent in the voting ballots. We can ague a lot whether it was right to deprive the voters from voting blank but it is already done. And probably the last point is that this time, at the polling stations, the voters will be welcomed by the web-cameras. Following the logic of law-makers, the cameras should protect us from the commissions’ abuses and falsification. And again this decision is quite disputable and costs the taxpayers 1 billion UAH…
For the first time the line "None of the above" will be absent in the voting ballots
- Have you noticed any election law violations at this stage?
Our organization observes the social and political situation starting from May 2012. Despite the fact that the election process was supposed to start only in the end of July 2012, the parties and potential candidates started campaigning long before it has been officially opened. This issue is complicated because such activity is de facto beyond the legal regulation. The Law On the Elections of People's Deputies of Ukraine, in the section which regulates the election campaign, concerns only the subjects of the election process. That is to say that before the official registration agitation cannot be conducted and is considered by the law-maker as political advertising. However, this phenomenon is definitely negative, because it violates the principle of equal opportunities of the candidates. The candidate, who has started the agitation earlier, will be better off than the candidate, who has started it later.
- What kinds of activities were performed by the parties and candidates in Odesa oblast?
The most widespread agitation methods in Odesa oblast during May-July were external advertising, organization of mass events, meetings with electorate, promotion of image materials (a bulk of it can be defined as hidden political advertising or so called jeansa), agitation combined with social initiatives (e.g. People's budget and People's medical examination), charity, provision of free of charge services and material values for the voters. These forms of electioneering have no proper legal regulation (the restrictions of election laws are not applicable to the individuals, who have not acquired the status of the subjects of the election process) and strengthen the dependence of parties and candidates on the external financial sources.
- Probably similar issues can be spotted in all parts of Ukraine. Are there any peculiarities of Odesa region, which differ from other regions in Ukraine?
Yes, there are some special issues, namely, People's budget and People's medical examination projects, which I have already mentioned above. These projects were initiated by the Head of Odesa Oblast State Administration Eduard Matviichuk, who is also the Head of oblast organization of the Party of Regions. Starting form autumn, within the framework of the first project were conducted the meetings with the members of territorial communities, where it was decided how to distribute the funds of the local budget on development (the money administered by the local self-governing bodies).The local leaders and authorities of oblast level, who were named the trustees of this project, were present at these meetings. As it became known later, in a strange way the "trustees" started the activities, which proved their intention to become the candidates in "their" constituencies. I do not even mention that similar "meetings" were accompanied by the symbols of the Party of Regions and no representatives form other political powers were noticed. Another project - People's medical examination - is a well known prophylactic medical examination of the population. Few doctors come to a village and perform medical examination of the citizens, and by doing this prevent the development of diseases or their complications. Everything would be fine if these examinations were not accompanied by the party symbols and agitation materials. But the presence of agitation materials on the events financed form the budget funds is only one side of the coin. Another side is that at the moment the billboards and citylights with the information about these projects and their achievements are situated all over Odesa oblast. At the same time it is possible that these banners were also financed from the budget funds, thus, made for the money of all taxpayers.
At polling stations the voters will be welcomed by the web cameras. It will cost the taxpayers ! billion UAH...
- According to your point of view, what are the biggest threats for the election process?
requests for the premise for the meetings with electorate and other electioneering events), indirect vote buying, and the increased amount of instances, where the authorities were actively involved in the agitation of parties and candidates. I paid attention to the participation of state officials in agitation, because according to the law and direct instructions it is forbidden. Moreover, a great threat of administrative resource abuse in its different forms appears when the officials do not distinguish between the political and executive activity. This is why the Head of the state and the executive bodies of power of the higher level should implement additional measures (including those of disciplinary, organization and personnel character) directed towards the limitation of participation of the state officials in the election campaign.
The problem of vote buying is not less important. Usually it takes place under the pretense of different "celebrations", commemorative dates, realization of regional social initiatives or building of separate infrastructure elements (e.g. children's playgrounds). However, I would not recommend greeting cheerfully these manifestations of candidate's generosity because in exchange for the goods "here and now" you, in fact, give a potential deputy the right to rule your future, the future of your country and your children. You also give him the possibility to create his own rules of the distribution of all (!) goods in the country. This costs a lot. And if to talk about the limitations of agitation on the grounds of indirect vote buying, which currently exist in laws, then they should be expanded not only to the subjects of election process but also to the political activity conducted in the period between the elections. At the same time, the electioneering with the features of indirect vote buying should entail respective sanctions.
In exchange for the goods "here and now" you, in fact, give a potential deputy the right to rule your future
- Do you expect any problems during the election races? Will there be any "hot" spots?
According to my experience, there are always some problems during the elections (smiles - ed.). However, the reasons are different: both systemic problems and human factor. At the moment is hard to predict the problems other than traditionally bad lists, lack of experience of the members of election commissions, and imperfection of legislature. However, the "hot spots" are already noticed. In these places the election campaign can be very critical and problematic. First of all, it will be because of the political rivalry between different groups and their centers of influence, which, in terms of essence and methods, has already gone beyond an ordinary political competition. In this respect, the most intense situations are observed in constituency # 133 (Kyiv rayon, Odesa city), voting district #142 (center - Artsyz city), and district #143 (center - Izmail city).
- I'm afraid we do not have enough time to talk about the peculiarities in every district... Could you please recommend our readers where they can find this information?
Sure. Recently we have presented the report on the analysis of pre-election situation in Odesa region during the period of May-July and it contains detailed information about the course of campaign. You can familiarize yourself with this report both on our web site www.izbirkom.od.ua and on the all-Ukrainian web sites of the Civil Network OPORA, Civic Space, and All-Ukrainian nongovernmental civic organization Committee of voters of Ukraine.
Reference:
Civic monitoring conducted by OPORA - is a type of network activity, aimed at impartial assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as preventing violations through comprehensive civic action. Professional monitoring at all stages of the election process indirectly influences the quality of the campaign. The public opinion, both foreign and domestic is formed through gathering and spreading of information among the target audience. From a strategic perspective public monitoring of elections focuses upon improving the system and certain procedures.
In 2012, during Parliamentary elections in Ukraine OPORA implements a large-scale campaign of long- and short term observation, organizes a statistical vote-count by the results of voting with the proportional component of the electoral system on a basis of representative selection, will provide 100% coverage of polling stations by observers in separate single-mandate majoritarian districts. OPORA observers will work in all 225 electoral districts, and 3,500 activists will join them on the voting day. Organization will use the latest means of spreading information on observation results, including infographics and interactive maps.