Ukraine's election campaign continues to be marked by controversy (03/03/02)

Ukraine's election campaign continues to be marked by controversy

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The turbulent state of Ukraine's elections continued to be manifested on February 25, as an appeals court ruling allowed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to leave Kyiv and finally begin a campaign trek through Ukraine, while the ruling of another court barred the candidacy of Crimea's powerful Communist leader, Leonid Hrach.

A Symferopol district court canceled the election registration of Mr. Hrach, the chairman of the Crimean Parliament and the head of the Crimean branch of the Communist Party of Ukraine, setting off a dispute that involved Russian politicians.

The court ruled that Mr. Hrach had inaccurately stated the full extent of his income and material possessions on his candidate application, and also had not suspended his activities as the chairman of the Crimean legislature. It underscored that the violations were sufficient to disqualify his candidacy.

Mr. Hrach, who heads the Crimean Election Bloc of Leonid Hrach, called the decision politically motivated and threatened to have the elections halted if he was not reinstated. At a rally attended by about 1,000 supporters waving red banners, Mr. Hrach said he had the power to stop the polling.

"The election in Crimea will take place only if my bloc and I participate in them," said Mr. Hrach, according to Interfax-Ukraine. He said the decision to cancel his registration was "the result of pressure on the court from certain authorities in Kyiv."

The most powerful tool at Mr. Hrach's disposal is the Central Election Commission of Crimea. Ihor Popov, head of the Committee of Ukrainian Voters, said the influential Crimean politician controls most of its members. Mr. Hrach, however, said only that he would pursue his case through the Crimean Appeals Court up to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. He did not rule out turning to an international court.

However, President Leonid Kuchma, who said that Mr. Hrach's problem lies partly in the fact that the Crimean court system has purposefully been kept underdeveloped, said that by law he had no avenue to appeal the court verdict.

Mr. Hrach remains on the Communist Party ticket in the elections to Ukraine's national Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

Two days later, the Crimean CEC announced that it was withdrawing the registrations of 30 candidates in the Crimean parliamentary elections - all of them political rivals of Mr. Hrach's bloc - because they also had filled out income declarations inaccurately.

Moscow became embroiled in the controversy on February 27 when the leaders of four Russian mainstream political parties, including Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Communist Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov and Boris Nemtsov, considered a reformist politician, addressed a letter to President Kuchma in which they voiced concerns over the election situation in Crimea.

According to Interfax-Ukraine, the letter stated in part: "behind the removal of Hrach from the elections are those who cannot accept leaders of Russia and Ukraine who are for the strengthening of cooperation between the two states."

Mr. Hrach is a strong proponent of close ties between Russia and the Crimean peninsula and has at times stated that he would support a reunion of Crimea with the Russian Federation.

President Kuchma's chief of staff, Volodymyr Lytvyn, responded to the letter by stating that it "verges on interference in the domestic affairs of Ukraine."

Tymoshenko free to leave Kyiv

Meanwhile, Yulia Tymoshenko began a campaign trek across eastern Ukraine on February 25 after her top aide, National Deputy Oleksander Turchynov, made public a February 14 decision by Ukraine's Supreme Court that set aside a ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeals. The lower court ruling had directed that Ms. Tymoshenko not leave Kyiv without written permission. Early last year the Procurator General's Office had charged Ms. Tymoshenko with bribery and corruption.

The 40-year-old leader of the Batkivschyna Party and opponent of President Kuchma was the founder and president of one of the largest energy trading companies in Ukraine before going into politics and ultimately becoming the first vice prime minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko.

After being arrested and freed on her own recognizance early last year, with an order that she not leave Kyiv, all charges were dropped by a decision of the Pechersk District Court, which was then overturned by the Court of Appeals.

The Supreme Court, headed by Vitalii Boiko, a close associate of Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz, is expected to hear Ms. Tymoshenko's case on March 14.

As the political turmoil continued in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for March 31, the first of the foreign observer delegations began to arrive in the country.

CEC Chairman Mykhailo Riabets announced on September 27 that the committee had registered 46 foreign observers thus far - 35 of them from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Also beginning its work was the Council of Europe's monitoring group on Ukraine, led by rapporteurs Hanne Severinsen and Renate Wohlwend, as well as representatives from Hungary, Azerbaijan and the Philippines. Mr. Riabets said he expects about 500 foreign observers to monitor the elections in all 225 electoral districts.

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