Cleanliness of the 2006 elections was a social requirement, says the head of elections watchdog, the Committee of Voters of Ukraine
The head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine Ihor Popov said that these elections will be “dirtier” than last year’s vote.
The “cleanliness of the 2006 elections was a social requirement,” he said at a press conference in Odessa on Sept. 6.
“In 2006, President Viktor Yushchenko was very interested in showing the world that we are capable of conducting honest elections, that he could have been willing to sacrifice their result,” according to the UNIAN report.
“The result will be paramount [in the] current elections,” he said. “To achieve the result, the election participants will use all of their capabilities.”
Popov predicted that “bought votes” would be worth up to Hr 100 ($20) on election day. He said that no more than 50,000 votes would be bought on Sept. 30; any more “will be very visible.” Fifty thousand votes represent approximately 0.2 percent in the final count.
Popov also predicted that any political party unhappy with the vote-tallying process “will create a scenario of protesting election results, even revolutionary action.”
“Further escalation of societal tension can lead to direct action of the losing side that does not recognize defeat and use all resources to prove it is right,” said Popov. He also pointed to shortcomings in electoral law: A losing party can “nullify” its list and force new parliamentary elections.
Television favoritism
Last month the Party of Regions, headed by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, led all political parties in the number of campaign ads on national television, while Yulia Tymoshenko’s Byut bloc spent the most time advertising on the airwaves. Ten national channels were monitored by the Academy of Ukrainian Press Aug. 20-25.
More than 1,000 ads were reviewed in the five-day period last month, representing 62,700 seconds, or more than 17 hours of airtime. The monitoring showed that 68 percent of ads were openly campaign-related – 15 percent less than recorded a month prior to last year’s elections. The more recent findings showed nearly a third of all ads were “partially hidden or anonymous.” More than 7 percent of ads fell to “an anonymous subject of the electoral process.”
The study found that more than 25 percent of election-related ads in the course of five days were aired by Regions. Byut led the airwaves in terms of total time with 23.5 percent. The Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense (OUPSD) bloc loyal to President Yushchenko followed closely.
Former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn’s bloc was more aggressive in its television advertising than the Socialists, President Yushchenko and the Communists.
Some channels displayed favoritism. Television and radio company Ukrayina – part of Regions’ sponsor Rinat Akhmetov’s media holdings – is only airing Regions’ advertisements. Seventy percent of all political ads on the Donetsk-rooted NTN channel were from Regions, while the STB television channel did not air any Regions ads.
The study found Byut concentrating on channels like STB and leading in total airtime on all channels except Ukrayina, NTN and the nation’s leader Inter. OUPSD’s television campaign was more balanced across all channels.
Paper: $5 million musicians
The Delo newspaper reported on Sept. 7 that Ukrainian performers stand to make $5 million from political parties during the election campaign.
The paper reported that four entertainers appearing at concerts sponsored by Regions stand to make the most: from $10,000-30,000 per concert. Acts paid for by OUPSD earn up to $10,000. The paper noted six bands and singers who are on tour for OUPSD.
Byut, meanwhile, is targeting youth and Ukrainian-language audiences with smaller but numerous concerts across the country. Folk voice icon Nina Matvienko told Delo that she earns a little more than her monthly pension from Byut for her performances, according to the report.
