Ukrainian Presidential Elections on October 31st

international | politics / elections | press release Saturday October 23, 2004 01:17 by International Secretary - Young Fine Gael - Young Fine Gael jjcarrol at tcd dot ie 51 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2

The EPP endorse Young Fine Gael's call for free and fair elections in the Ukraine.

Last weekend, Young Fine Gael (YFG) in co-operation with two youth political parties in the Ukraine, Young Rukh and the CDMU, expressed our concern with the manner in which the government of the Ukraine is carrying out the Presidential Election campaign due on October 31st and called for those elections to be carried out in a free and fair manner. There would appear to be widespread harassment of opposition election workers and abuse by the government of state facilities to support their candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

A large number of international bodies have expressed concern with the manner in which the electoral process. It is imperative that these elections abide to general European practice, and that the attempts by the government to restrict opposition access to the media, hold rallies and canvass support must be ceased immediately.

Therefore, Young Fine Gael is pleased that the European People’s Party (EPP) has endorsed YFG’s call at their Political Bureau meeting on October 20th. The EPP is a coalition of centre, centre right and Christian Democratic parties across Europe, and is largest political grouping in the European Parliament. By endorsing and supporting YFG’s call, the EPP are adding to the pressure on the government to end their blatant favouritism and abuse of power in favouring Prime Minister Yanukovych’s campaign over that of the main opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko.

The European Union’s concern for democratic values must not end on her borders, and it is important that those values be encouraged throughout European and the wider world. The EU must take the lead in promoting democracy throughout the continent of Europe, and the Presidential Elections in the Ukraine provide a powerful test of this commitment.



Resolution on the Presidential Elections in Ukraine, passed by the EPP



Recognising

• The genuine efforts of the majority of the Ukrainian people to establish a workable, institutionalised and lasting democracy in their state.

• The outcome of the forthcoming presidential elections and the findings of the international community regarding the way the elections have been conducted will clearly demonstrate the determination of Ukraine to follow European standards and values.


Believing

• in the principles of freedom, democracy, rule of law and mutual respect as fundamental to achieving stability and prosperity in Ukraine.


The European People’s Party calls on:

The Ukrainian authorities:

to satisfy the calls, both domestic and international, for ensuring free, fair and transparent elections and sufficient election monitoring which can conduct itself unimpeded both during the campaign and on polling day.

To prevent the use of public resources for the purpose of manipulating the campaign;

To guarantee the freedom of media, to be respected by all authorities in Ukraine so as to ensure freedom of speech and not undermine voter confidence at election time. and to provide equal and impartial access to the state media for all candidates

To provide an equal opportunities to vote for Ukrainian citizens living abroad and to create enough polling stations abroad.