ion campaign has been very turbulent and problematic. Serious election law violations during the course of it, intimidation of opposition candidates and their supporters, and biased media coverage drew a lot of criticism about the fairness and freedom of the Ukrainian poll.
However, as the campaign nears its end, I believe it’s important to highlight some of the positive aspects of the upcoming vote.
When Ukrainians go to the polls on Oct. 31, each citizen will have the opportunity to vote for one of the two strong candidates, each with clear and differing views about the future of Ukraine. (Though 23 candidates are registered, it’s clear that there are two front runners; a protest vote for the Communist candidate will place him a distant third.) This is a strong and welcome contrast to most other countries of the CIS. The fact is that at the presidential election in Russia and the recent parliamentary election in Belarus voters essentially didn’t have an alternative; they were deprived of the very possibility to make a free choice. Ukrainian citizens do have that possibility and it would be inexcusable not to use it.
I am sure the Kyiv Post’s readers have noticed that for years, we have consistently argued against any government move which calls for any forced activity on the part of Ukrainian citizens. We have spoken out against the military draft which requires young men to spend two years in their early adult lives in uniform. We stood against almost every tax proposal which takes freely earned wealth out of private citizens’ hands and places it in the government coffers for opaque projects great and small. We have argued against government registrations that determine where Ukrainians can or can’t live inside their own country. We have argued in favor of limiting the power of the State Security Services (SBU) to acquire information and interfere with Ukrainians’ privacy.
In short, we have consistently called the Ukrainian government to cease treating its citizens as subjects – as the Soviet authorities so cruelly did for 70 years.
I raise this point to stress the key responsibility that each citizen does have before its government, which is to vote. And it appears to be the requirement not so much for the government, but for the citizens themselves in order to ensure that they remain committed to participating in governance and can define the future of the country for themselves. To take this responsibility means to be an active and free citizen who champions democracy.
On Oct. 31, each of you will have to make a choice concerning Ukraine’s future. I don’t want to argue for whom anyone should vote and why it’s worth voting, because it’s only you who will make the choice. I can only urge you to go vote and express your civil position.
I can understand those persons who do not vote out of protest, but to not vote out of laziness or passiveness is to fail in your most important responsibility as a citizen.
Jed Sunden is the publisher of the Kyiv Post.
