DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine - In the southeastern city of Dnipropetrovsk, Election Day on Oct. 25 was a quiet, ordinary Sunday. People came and went from the polling stations in pairs and with children in tow.
Predictions of local observers and activists that warring oligarchs might physically influence the electoral process to ensure their victory failed to materialize. Violations recorded by election observers were minimal, but present.
A German member of parliament and international election observer in Dnipropetrovsk, Rainer van Raemdonck, said that the elections had been conducted in accordance with European standards.
Exit polls released after polling stations closed varied greatly and local journalists and observers questioned their objectivity.
But every exit poll confirms there will be a second round of the mayoral election between the Opposition Bloc’s Oleksandr Vilkul and Ukrop’s Borys Filatov. None of them gained 50 percent needed for a first-round win.
The vote count goes on. The figures reported by the City Election Commission on the afternoon of Oct. 26 put Vilkul in the lead with 37 percent of votes, followed by Filatov with 35 percent. Opposition Bloc is also the leading party in the city council with 30.35 percent and Ukrop is again second with 24.85 percent.
Vilkul served as governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast from 2010 to 2012, appointed by former President Viktor Yanukovych, and then was promoted to deputy prime minister. Prior to this, Vilkul worked in the management of one of the plants owned by Ukraine’s richest oligarch Rinat Akhmetov – and is still often described as a protégé of Akhmetov by analysts.
His competitor Filatov is a local businessman affiliated with Akhmetov’s rival, Ukraine’s second richest oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky. Kolomoysky served as the oblast’s governor from 2014 to 2015 and left the post following a conflict with Kyiv over an oil-trading company that he and the state co-own.
The ruling party, Petro Poroshenko’s Bloc, didn’t offer a strong alternative to the oligarchs’ representatives. It backed local lawmaker Maksym Kuryachiy who received about 5 percent of the vote.
Stanyslav Zholudev from the Ukrainian Committee of Voters cautioned against taking the announced numbers as the final results.
“There is still around 2, 3, 5 percent unaccounted for,” he said.
Observers are now poised to see how the Election Commission behaves.
“There is still a possibility of vote falsification,” said Zholudev. “Some polling stations have announced results before the counting was finished”.
Much of the second round will depend on if the voters who supported other candidates decide to unite under Filatov or Vilkul.
In a bid for early endorsement, Ukrop issued a press release shortly before midnight stating its willingness to cooperate with other “democratic political forces”.
The results so far demonstrate that the opposing teams of political technologists have successfully polarized voters into two camps: the pro-Ukrainian “patriots” who want “change” are seen as Filatov’s electorate and those who want peace, infrastructure and “stability” – as supporters of Vilkul.
Vilkul’s press secretary Serhiy Miliutin told Kyiv Post that he is worried how Ukrop will behave in the lead up to the second round.
“There is a danger that our opponents (Ukrop) will continue to radicalize the situation. That they will continue to use large amounts of black PR against us and carry out provocations. We (Opposition Bloc) will continue to campaign on a positive note,” he said.
After declaring outright victory after the exit polls were announced last night on Facebook, Filatov’s headquarters now seem to have taken a step back. Today they accused the local election commission of falsification and being in league with Opposition Bloc.
“They can’t win through the elections so they will try and win through the Commission,” Oleksandr Sanzhara, Filatov’s campaign manager told Kyiv Post by phone. “Half the Commission are (former) Party of Regions members. Falsification is already happening. Various members of the Commission are ‘falling ill’”.
Zholudev denied that this is the case but assured observers would be monitoring the situation closely.
Kyiv Post staff writer Isobel Koshiw can be reached at [email protected]
