By Martin Banks - 1st October 2007
Ukraine’s parliamentary elections on Sunday generally met international standards, according to a top-level delegation of Ukrainian MPs.
However, they said some issues still gave cause for concern, including the poor quality of voter lists.
The three-man delegation, all Ukrainian parliamentarians, was in Brussels on Tuesday to attend a parliamentary hearing on the elections.
It included Volodymyr Vecherko, head of the Ukranian part of the EU-Ukraine inter-parliamentary committee and an MP for the Party of Regions, the party of Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych.
With over 90 per cent of the votes counted, the Party of Regions was leading with 44.49 per cent.
He said, “Obviously, every election has its share of minor problems but, as far as we can see, the elections were democratic, open and fair.
“Even so, there are some lessons which can be learned and these will be taken on board.”
He added, “The result for my party is better than in previous elections and was a good result.”
Vecherko said he hoped the election would provide a “small but significant” step towards his country’s eventual membership of the EU.
“Having said that, I would not wish to under-estimate relations with our close neighbours, such as Russia,” he said.
His comments were echoed by Romanian Socialist MEP Adrian Severin, who led a 14-strong parliamentary delegation at the elections.
“We observed that all the main political parties express a desire to see their country fully integrate into the EU and to positively contribute to Europe’s relations with Russia,” he said.
“In order to accomplish these goals, it is essential for all Ukrainian political forces to respect the free will expressed by the Ukrainian people.”
Another member of the delegation, Oleksiy Portnikov, also of the Party of Regions, warned that it was still too early to say whether the elections will signal an end to his country’s recent political unrest.
“We will have to wait and see,” he said. “There was no evidence of fraud in the elections which is good but whether it will lead to the stability we hope for remains to be seen.”
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