KRAMATORSK, Ukraine - The city that was once seized by Russian-separatist forces has voted overwhelmingly for the Opposition Bloc, the political force made up of former allies of ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The Opposition Bloc looks set to get roughly half the votes in the Donetsk Oblast city of 160,000 people.
The turnout during the elections was low though, however, some 40 percent.
Not all votes have been counted yet.
In contrast to the Opposition Bloc’s support, Kramatorsk Mayor Andrey Pankov, a self-nominated candidate not affiliated with any part, is set to be re-elected. He has led the city since its liberation by the Ukrainian army in July 2014.
Pankov had 50 percent of the votes by 9 a.m. this morning.
As was expected in Kramatorsk’s local elections, the Opposition Bloc has received a little over 50 percent of the votes to lead the city council. The Opposition Bloc will get 24 deputies, Nash Kraj 10 Solidarnost 5 and Pensioner’s Party 3.
Two other parties that will take part in the new city council are Nash Krai with 19 percent and Solidarnost, the party of Petro Poroshenko that received 11 percent of the votes. Samopomich and the Pensioners Party, who also took part in the elections, didn’t make it to the city council as the parties didn’t reach the threshold of 5 percent.
Armed men secured the city council, fearing for what representatives of the local Opposition Bloc called “provocateurs.” Next to the city hall was a small press center set up where local election officials shared their views and information if there were any violations or cases of fraud.
Member of the local election commission Sergey Tkachenko called the elections a “success” as there weren’t cases of election fraud detected yet. However, he called the turnout of 40% a disappointment and that the results doesn’t represent all of Kramatorsk.
“The local elections in Ukraine are as important as ever. Reforms, new law, new rules, will be introduced the upcoming years — 60 percent in Kramatorsk decided not to use their civil right. We don’t know if they support the results, but the results don’t represent the large majority in Kramatorsk, despite what the percentages show,” Tkachenko said during a press briefing on Oct. 26 in Kramatorsk.
The city is full of young people, and some of them don’t understand why the post-EuroMaidan Revolution bloc of President Petro Poroshenko didn’t gather many votes.
In front of the city council, the colors of the Ukrainian flag are painted.
Families have gathered on a nice autumn day in front of the building, where a few musicians play violins. Some children are chasing flying pigeons. Nothing recalls of war or the day after the city’s most important local election in history: that of wanting to reform and grow stronger.
Artem Koshmal, an 18-year-old student, is riding his bike with some friends, stopping in front of what was once the Lenin statute. Lenin is no more and has been replaced by the Ukrainian flag, but for Koshmal and many other residents in Kramatorsk, the statute is still a symbol. A symbol of hope to make Kramatorsk better and stronger than ever.
“The youth is what makes Kramatorsk hopeful,” Koshmal said. According to him only the youth can push through reforms in the city. “It’s not even a question whether there are pro-Russians in Kramatorsk. Obviously, there are. Many of them support Opposition Bloc for example. But, they don’t want reforms. They want to go back to the Soviet times. The future is that of the youth, and many of us weren’t even born in the Soviet Union. We want to have a European future, and that means reforms. I’ve read everywhere in the news in cities like Odessa that young people are appointed to important positions, because only young people can do that. We, the young people, are the future,” Koshmal told the Kyiv Post.
Telling Koshmal about the results, he reacted shocked.
“The current mayor has been good for Kramatorsk since we were liberated. I think that’s the only good thing about these elections,” he said.
Koshmal voted for Poroshenko’s party Solidarnost because he thinks that’s the only party that can make Kramatorsk stronger.
On Apr. 13 Russian-separatists took over the police station in Kramatorsk in their attempts to create the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. On May 11 a status referendum was held to declare their so-called republic. Kramatorsk, then, became officially a city in the Donetsk People’s Republic. What followed was months of fighting between Russian proxies and the Ukrainian army. Eventually the Ukrainian army recaptured Kramatorsk on July 5.
A walk through the small town still gives the impression that some residents sympathize with the separatists in Donetsk. On some billboards in the center, graffiti supports the separatists while some apartment complex walls are painted with separatist colors.
Now, Kramatorsk has chosen its local government push through reforms locally.
Some people also are skeptical about reforms, such as 43-year-old shop owner Nikolai Mazhurenko.
“Since the protests in Kyiv everyone’s been shouting the word reform. Meanwhile, we haven’t seen anything. And, let’s not forget the corruption accusation against the government in Kyiv. They force us to do things, but they can’t keep their promises. That’s one reason why I would never vote for Poroshenko’s party,” Mazhurenko said. He didn’t want to mention what party he did vote for.
Time will tell how Kramatorsk will look like in a few years. The only certainty is that Vladimir Lenin, the symbol of communism and Soviet tyranny, is gone but evidently his spirit is not forgotten.
