The organization of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine was the best in the history of the country's independence, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.
“These were the best organized elections in Ukraine in the history of its independence,” he said at a government meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday.
He noted that at 95% of districts observers had characterized the elections as exemplary.
“Conflicts, unfortunately, arose only in a few districts,” Azarov said.
He noted that some artificially created conflicts in some districts were insufficient grounds to make accusations against the government, adding that the government is by no means influencing the work of election commissions and the establishment of the election results. Azarov said that “in any of the districts where there were conflicts, there were no representatives of the Party of Regions among the heads, deputy heads or secretaries of commissions.”
“Opposition candidates and self-nominees are mainly in conflict with each other. So what claims can be filed with respect to the authorities? None. I’m stating that officially and categorically,” he said.
He said that democratic norms and procedures had not been violated in the last election and that not a single fact of falsification had been reported.
In his opinion, calls by opposition leaders to refuse to take up parliamentary seats are actually the recognition of their defeat.
Azarov said that there was no money for holding repeat votes in the country, and that they could pose a direct threat to democracy in Ukraine.
“This is a direct threat to democracy in Ukraine. Where is a guarantee that opponents will like the results of the repeat votes? Where is a guarantee that they won’t have a desire [to hold repeat elections] for a third or fourth time?” he said.
