30/11/2012 Election observation
Strasbourg, 30.11.2012 – The 28 October parliamentary elections in Ukraine were marred by a tilted playing field, which contributed to the dominance of the major economic and financial groups, according to the final report of PACE’s election observers, made public today and debated by the Standing Committee.
The report, by delegation head Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), pointed in particular to the misuse of administrative resources and a lack of transparency in campaign and party financing, as well as an imbalance in media coverage.
Election day was quiet and well-ordered, with voting and vote-counting, on the whole, conducted professionally and calmly. But the situation worsened during the calculation of results in a considerable number of constituencies.
Serious irregularities were noted in at least 13 majority constituencies, in five of which the election results were cancelled. The observers expressed “grave concern” at this and said these irregularities were “liable to vitiate the whole electoral process”.
They also invited the Ukrainian authorities to take a series of steps to resolve the problems noted.