Ukraine: If opposition will endorse the joint candidates for the re-election, the current ruling power will have no chance

According to the statements of Vitaky Bala, a prominent Ukrainian political scientist, the changes are needed for the law about the elections and those changes should be implemented before the re-election. The expert said it commenting the decision of Ukrainian Central Electoral Commission to conduct the re-elections in five single-mandate majoritarian districts where there were significant problems with the votes’ counting.

Mr. Bala is sure that in case the re-elections will be held the oppositional forces have all the chance to win in those districts.

After what happened on those districts and at the local electoral commissions during the scandalous counting of the votes and the following battles and court cases the moral and psychological advantages are no doubt on the side of the opposition, stated the expert. In addition to that the chances of the oppositional forces could be bigger if they will unite, what is very likely to happen, as the oppositional parties, such as Batkivshchyna (Homeland) Party, UDAR Party and Svoboda (Freedom) Party are fighting together now. There was also reported that those parties are planning to endorse the joint candidates for the re-elections. In this case the chances of the pro-government candidates will be very small, thinks Mr. Bala.

But at the same time it is possible, that there will be more candidates during the re-elections in those districts, said the expert. The candidates who lost the parliamentary elections could run for the second time during the re-elections as the individuals or on the majoritarian lists. Even the parties who didn’t get enough voices to enter the parliament during the elections could try their powers once again through the majoritarian lists, added the expert. For example, the party of Natalia Korolevska, Ukraine, forward!, could try to win some seats endorsing the individual candidates, stressed Mr. Bala.

In addition to that more attention will be paid to those five districts, and there will be more observers from different political powers. These elections are expected to be more strict and hard, thinks the political expert.

Mr. Bala also stressed, that those re-elections will become a sign of the political situation in Ukraine not only for the Ukrainian citizens but for the international community as well. The attempts of the ruling parties to win the seats in the future Parliament at any costs worsened the situation of Ukraine on the international arena, created more negative image of Ukrainian current political situation and actually delegitimized these elections and the actions of the authorities. To avoid further deterioration of the situation inside the country and also in the relations with EU, USA and the international community, Ukrainian authorities should realize that any further attempts to hold the power through the restricting of the freedoms and rights of the citizens and violations during the electoral process could delegitimize the authorities of this country and all its actions generally, what will mean that Ukraine would be more isolated.