Ukrainians believe elections are chance to ‘restart’ government
Experts and citizens believe early parliamentary elections scheduled on October 26th will help Ukraine bring in un-corrupted and pro-European forces.
The result, they said, will help President Petro Poroshenko to make systematic changes and run democratic reforms, moving the country forward to a European future.
“Everyone in Ukraine is waiting for these elections and changes,” 54-year-old Irina Bakum of Kyiv told SETimes. “This is a chance to choose a non-corrupt government, honest MPs who will defend the interests of their constituents. I want those who enter the parliament to always remember those who died in Independence Square in Kyiv for the European values.”
Less than a month before the voting day, the election campaign is becoming more aggressive, the streets of Ukrainian cities are full of billboards promoting different candidates and political parties.
Electoral expert Oleksandr Chernenko said this election is different from previous ones, since new people and parties are emerging.
“We can see how the lists of the parties have changed, so many new people appeared,” Chernenko told SETimes. “But most important is that we see how diminished support is for the Communist Party and the former pro-government Party of Regions. … Most of their representatives will not get into the new government. It is very good.”
This election is a real chance to change the country, experts said, as many of the candidates are the leaders of the protest movements in Ukraine who contributed to the revolution. They include journalists and social activists.
“We must turn our civil initiatives into a political process so then we will see the changes in practice,” Svitlana Zalishchuk, one of the founders of the civil movement Chesno (Fair) and a candidate from pro-presidential Bloc Poroshenko, told SETimes.
Early parliamentary elections was one of the main demands of Maidan protests last winter and one of the main promises of Poroshenko’s election campaign. He said he would start the mechanism of early elections to the Verkhovna Rada, the highest legislative body of Ukraine, and thus complete updating the government. “Today, the parliament is crippled so some demands that people put forward during the revolution were not achieved. There were no systemic changes,” Zalishchuk said. “Now there are processes that will bring new people to the power. The whole political elite are changing.”
Chernenko, who also decided to be a parliamentarian candidate himself, is confident the new Verkhovna Rada will be pro-European.
“I have optimistic views on the new government, it will be more democratic,” he said. “The country will be restarted. It is very good that a large number of candidates are public figures with a lot of experience in the developments of reforms and with a vision of how the country has to develop. There are, of course, some people from the past, but they will not be the screaming mass.”
However, experts believe that the quality and the results of these elections will largely depend on how consciously people vote.
Vitaliy Teslenko, executive director of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, said there are reports where some candidates for single-mandate constituencies are trying to bribe voters with food or road repairs.
“In other words, they are trying to use the same methods” as in the past, he said.
“We run the programme Conscious Choice to educate people about elections and explain to them that they have to make smart choices,” Teslenko told SETimes. “That it is important not to vote for those who only during the pre-election campaign are bringing food, but learn more about candidates’ biographies and their real activities to choose the best. We have also set up a hotline where people can contact us and report bribery cases.”
Teslenko said there are no organisational problems and the elections will be held according the European standards.
What are your expectations for the upcoming parliamentary elections? Tell us what you think in the comments section.