Moscow - The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is not preparing to elect Verkhovna Rada deputies or hold the Ukrainian local elections on December 7, DPR Central Elections Commission Chairman Roman Lyagin said.
‘The only elections we are preparing for are the Nov. 2 ballot, which would elect the head of the republic and Supreme Council deputies. We are fulfilling a resolution of the DPR Supreme Council. If the Supreme Council decides to hold the election on Dec. 7, we will consider this but we have no such decision for now. We have not received any instructions regarding the so-called local elections of Dec. 7,” Lyagin told on Oct. 15.
He repeated that the DPR would not elect Verkhovna Rada deputies.
‘We are controlling a large part of the Donetsk region. We can definitely say it will not be possible to organize the election of Verkhovna Rada deputies here. We will not hold these elections,’ Lyagin said.
In turn, DPR Supreme Council Vice-Speaker Miroslav Rudenko told Interfax that deputies of the self-proclaimed republic had no plans to decide on holding local elections on Dec. 7.
‘We are not going to authorize any elections of Dec. 7 and the Rada elections. We are preparing for the Nov. 2 elections supported by a relevant resolution of the Supreme Council and the Cabinet of Ministers,’ Rudenko said.
Meanwhile, the West said it was not going to recognize the elections held by the self-proclaimed DPR. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Oct. 14, at the end of his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, that the only legitimate ballot would be the Verkhovna Rada elections on Oct. 26 and the local elections in Donbas on Dec. 7.
