Ukraine’s presidential election meets most international
commitments
KYIV, 18 January 2010 – The first round of Ukraine’s presidential election was of highquality and showed significant progress over previous elections, meeting most OSCE andCouncil of Europe commitments, concluded the international election observationmission in a statement published today.The observers noted that the election demonstrated respect for civil and political rights,and offered voters a genuine choice between candidates representing diverse politicalviews. Candidates were able to campaign freely, and the campaign period was generallycalm and orderly.The legal framework remained unclear and incomplete, and was subject of permanentdiscussion. Nevertheless, the election was generally administered efficiently, andcommissions mostly worked in a collegial and non-partisan manner. A pluralistic mediaoffered voters a variety of information about candidates, although electronic mediareporting was often influenced by candidates paying for news coverage.Voting and counting on election day was assessed overwhelmingly positive by observers.“This was a good and competitive election and very promising for the future of Ukraine’sdemocracy. I look forward to the continuation of this positive experience in the secondround of the election,” said João Soares, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assemblyand Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE short-term observers.“Ukraine has proven that it can hold a clean election, even under an incomplete andunclear election law, confirming the desire of the Ukrainian people to freely choose theirleaders. However, a major challenge ahead for Ukraine’s politicians is to playbythe rulesrather thanwiththe rules,” said Matyas Eörsi, Head of the delegation of the Council ofEurope’s Parliamentary Assembly.“These elections consolidated the progress achieved by Ukraine since 2004. We wereimpressed with the overwhelmingly orderly process conducted in polling stations acrossthe country on election day. Shortcomings remain, particularly with regard to theelectoral legal framework and its implementation. This undermines public confidence.Still, the Ukrainian voters won these elections. They have once more demonstrated theirstrong commitment to freedom and democracy,” said Assen Agov, Head of thedelegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.“The people of Ukraine had a genuine democratic choice between a large number ofcandidates. Open access to information about the candidates and their programmes
