08/01/2010 Election observation
Strasbourg, 08.01.2010 – A 39-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), will be in Ukraine from 14 to 18 January to observe the presidential election, alongside observers from the OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies, the European Parliament and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
The delegation will meet the leading candidates, election officials, civil society and media representatives before observing the ballot on 17 January in a sample of polling stations across the country.
A PACE pre-electoral delegation, visiting Kyiv from 24 to 26 November, noted an “overall free and competitive atmosphere”, as well as improved freedom for the media, but expressed concern at the dwindling confidence of the electorate in politics and the interconnectedness of politics and finance. Ukraine’s electoral legislation, while flawed, could still provide a functioning framework for the election but should be improved as soon as possible after it, the pre-electoral delegation said.
The delegation will be accompanied by a member of the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe’s group of independent legal experts, which adopted – together with OSCE/ODIHR – an opinion on recent changes to the electoral framework in Ukraine.
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Preliminary conclusions will be announced at a joint press conference on Monday 18 January (time and venue to be confirmed).
Contacts:
In Strasbourg and in Kyiv (from 16 January): Angus Macdonald, PACE Communication Division, mobile: +33 6 30 49 68 20.
In Kyiv: Anna Dmytruk, Council of Europe Information Office in Ukraine, tel. +38 044 234 3778 or 63 68.