Freedom House: Parliamentary elections in Ukraine will be the litmus test for authorities
Readiness to ensure conducting the next parliamentary elections in Ukraine according to OSCE standards will be the litmus test on democracy of Ukraine’s public authorities. This was stated by David Kramer, Executive Director of the Independent watchdog organization Freedom House, during a presentation of the report “Sounding the Alarm: Protecting Democracy in Ukraine” in Kyiv on June 14, 2011. The presentation took place in the office of the International Renaissance Foundation.
Experts say that concerns arise over the influence of the public authorities on electoral environment by means of such methods that damage political prospects of independent and opposition forces and help to concentrate power in the hands of the ruling party both in Kyiv and regions.
The report expresses a concern due to the parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 2012. Preparation of the report was supported by the International Renaissance Foundation. Representatives of Freedom House consider that the key issue here is how specifically the electoral system will be. Freedom House appeals to Ukraine’s public authorities to cooperate with the Venice Commission during preparation of amendments to the electoral legislation.
Experts also warn the Ukrainian authorities of the attempts to limit freedom of activity of non-governmental organizations. Damon Wilson, one of the authors of the report and Executive Vice President at the Atlantic Council, emphasized that in order to meet international democratic standards, Ukraine has to create favorable legal framework for activity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). At the same time he expressed the position against the intentions of the public authorities to limit foreign financing of NGOs and emphasized that approval of such a norm will put Ukraine outside of the democratic world. Free activity of NGOs is a guarantee of democratization of the society, Wilson said.
Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, noted: “Supporting the research by a group of independent experts under the auspices of Freedom House, our goal was to obtain an unbiased assessment of the state and dynamics of democracy in Ukraine. The researchers gave significant attention to what opportunities and positive ways exist for avoiding a negative scenario of development of events. We plan further to support conducting such assessments in the future, both with involvement of foreign and domestic experts, by organizing a constant public control.”
Contact information: International Renaissance Foundation, Stanislav Liachinsky, (+38 044) 486 24 74, liachinskiy@irf.kiev.ua
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Main objective of the International Renaissance Foundation is to provide financial and operational assistance to the development of an open and democratic society in Ukraine by supporting key civic initiatives in this area.
