Despite the prohibition against agitation on the day preceding upcoming Oct. 25 local elections, civil activists report numerous violations. Observers from the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a nongovernmental organization, noticed political advertising in Kyiv, Kherson and Odesa.
According to the local elections law, no political agitation is allowed on so-called “day of silence” before Election Day on Sunday. The agitation should be stopped on Friday at midnight. But political parties and candidates for mayor position continue the agitation, Committee of Voters of Ukraine wrote on its Facebook page. Billboards and other outdoors advertising feature party mottos and are made in recognizable styles resembling party colors.
Two mayor candidates – lawmaker Boryslav Bereza and leader of political party Movement for Reforms Serhiy Dumchev – agitate for their candidacies in Kyiv. Vidrodzhennia (Revival) party, which is mostly represented by former members of Party of Regions, doesn’t hesitate to agitate on Oct.24 in Kyiv as well.
Billboard features mayor candidate Boryslav Bereza’s logo on Oct.24. (Committee of Voters of Ukraine Twitter account).
On the same day, Denys Kazanskyi, civil activist and journalist, also noticed the violation of the law. He posted in his Twitter account a photo of the billboard from Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, led by Yulia Tymoshenko, picturing its red heart logo and the slogan “Fair rates”.
Batkivshchyna’s party billboard with the slogan “Fair rates” stands in Osokorky District on Oct.24. (Denys Kazanskyi Twitter account).
Batkivshchyna and Vidrodzhennia parties likewise continue promoting themselves in Kherson. At the same time, advertising for Mykhailo Opanashchenko, a former Yanukovych ally, who currently heads the Liberal Party of Ukraine and runs for mayor position in Kherson, is still visible on the streets.
Ex-lawmaker from Party of Regions Svitlana Fabrykant didn’t stop the agitation in south of Ukraine in Odesa, where she runs for local city council.
Besides obvious agitation with party’s logos and mottos, some use hidden type of it. For example in Kyiv, billboards with a slogan “Holosui Vdumchyvo” (means “Vote Thoughtfully”) curiously resemble the last name of one of the mayorial candidates Dumchev, while using his campaign colors.
Central Election Commission Press Officer Kostiantyn Khivrenko refused to comment the violations referring to the limited staffing capacity to track all agitation advertising around Ukraine.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliana Romanyshyn can be reached at [email protected].
