European Parliament: the election without opposition leaders is a shame for Ukraine

Julia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian ex-Prime
Minister

Charles Tannock, member of European Parliament (the group of the European conservatives and reformists) thinks that the parliamentary election without the leaders of Ukrainian opposition Julia Tymoshenko and Yury Lutsenko will be a shame for the country.

Parliamentary elections in Ukraine without the oppositional leaders will not represent the people’s will and cannot be legitimate, according to Tannock’s statement. He also stated that he will initiate the particular report of the European Parliament regarding lack of democracy and transparency in carrying out the election in Ukraine.

According to the agreement the European Parliament works in the format of the so called troika with OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) while observing the election process and preparing the report about its conducting. But at the same time it is possible to make a separate statement and report which will enlighten the undemocratic climate, in which the election is being held, stressed the parliamentarian.

Another member of European Parliament, Jacek Sariusz-Wolski, the Vice-President of the European People’s Party, added, that the refusal of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine to register the candidacies of the both oppositional leaders Julia Tymoshenko and Yury Lutsenko as well for the upcoming elections can be considered the continuation of the policy of the current authorities to withdraw the leaders of the opposition from the political arena in Ukraine, which is simply inappropriate for EU.  

The European parliamentarian explains, that such a decision violates the Ukrainian Constitution, as there is no reasons to refuse to register the candidate for the election even if the candidate is accused or is on trial. It can be the reason for being not elected or disqualified from the elections race, but it cannot be the reason for refusal to register the candidacy. The decision taken by the Ukrainian Central Election Commission not to register the candidacies of Ukrainian ex-Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko and ex-Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko for the upcoming election demonstrates only the willingness of the authorities to exclude the oppositional leaders from the parliamentarian race and to significantly weaken the opposition.

Such a decision will not help Ukraine to improve its relationships with the European Union, but it will rather worsen them, according to the European parliamentarians. It will be more complicated for Ukrainian authorities to receive some simplifications in the dialog between Ukraine and EU, and this situation could unfortunately effect on the average citizens of Ukraine.

“We cannot talk about the free, fair and democratic parliamentarian election in Ukraine, if the oppositional leaders aren’t allowed to participate. EU and the countries which are the members of the OSCE will maybe take into consideration this fact while supervising and evaluating the electoral process in Ukraine”, - stated the European deputy.

We will remind that Ukrainian Central Electoral Commission have already registered the list of the representatives of the oppositional political party Batkivshyna (The Homeland) for the parliamentary elections without its leaders Julia Tymoshenko and Yury Lutsenko, who are currently on trial. The parliamentary election is to be held this autumn.