Ukrainian Election Commission Refuses Opposition Participation in Elections; Tymoshenko Calls for Support of Democratic Process in Ukraine
11/08/2007 19:42
PR Newswire
KYIV, Ukraine, August 11 /PRNewswire/ --
The Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC), which is responsible for
overseeing the electoral process associated with the Ukrainian parliamentary
elections scheduled for September 30th, has refused to register the main
opposition coalition led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Early Saturday morning the CEC members who represent Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovych, along with his communist and socialist allies, refused to
give their vote acknowledging the candidacy of all 450 nominees of the
opposition coalition of Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT).
Ms. Tymoshenko said the decision by the CEC to reject all BYuT candidates
was a politically motivated attempt to disrupt the upcoming elections.
The official reason given by the CEC was that the candidates of
Tymoshenko's party did not state their full address (house number, street
name) in the registration documents.
Citing a Constitutional Court ruling in 2000, Tymoshenko said the place
of the residence is defined as a name of a village, city or region, but not a
specific street address. She added that the BYuT candidacy documents were
completed in exactly the same manner during the 2006 parliamentary elections
without any question.
"This is a blatant and rather desperate attempt to undermine the
electoral process by eliminating a political party that represents one-third
of the country's population." said the opposition leader.
Tymoshenko pledged to appeal to the courts on Saturday and requested
immediate reaction from her political partners -- President Viktor Yushchenko
and his coalition Our Ukraine-People's Self Defence.
She also said that her coalition would seek support from the European
Union, the Council of Europe, PACE and OSCE.
The Ukrainian parliamentary election campaign started on August 2; the
vote is scheduled for September 30.
Natasha Lysova, International Media Relations, Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT), Tel.: +38-(044)-462-5839, Mobile: +38-(067)-752-5131, Mobile: +38-(067)-323-6040, Email: nlysova@beauty.net.ua