ANALYSIS: Rising abuse of administrative resources seen in Ukrainian election campaign (08/15/04)

ANALYSIS

Rising abuse of administrative resources seen in Ukrainian election campaign

by Taras Kuzio
Eurasia Daily Monitor

In late July, the Ukrainian Ministry of Families, Children and Youth unofficially organized a youth forum to rally support for President Leonid Kuchma's candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Each oblast branch of the ministry received instructions to organize "delegates" for the youth rally.

The Minister of Families, Children and Youth is Valentyna Dovzhenko, who is also the leader of the Women for the Future Party. Women for the Future, which ran in the 2002 parliamentary elections as a pro-Kuchma party but failed to cross the 4 percent threshold, back Mr. Yanukovych's candidacy.

The use and abuse of "state-administrative resources" was first tried in 1999, perfected in the 2002 elections and is again quickly becoming a major issue in this year's election campaign. Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko complained to the Central Election Commission that local state administrations are actively campaigning for Mr. Yanukovych (Ukrainian News, July 15).

The pro-Kuchma camp has denied the allegation. The first deputy head of the presidential administration, Vasyl Baziv, claimed, "The collection of signatures [for Mr. Yanukovych] is being undertaken by his elections centers and not organs of the authorities" (Ukrainska Pravda, July 23). Interviewed by the Washington Times (July 9), Mr. Yanukovych declared, "I don't need elections at any price," and he pledged that the elections would be free and fair.

It is difficult to believe that Mr. Yanukovych has reformed. The 1999 and 2002 elections in the Donetsk Oblast, when he was still oblast chairman there, were falsified. In a conversation taped by Mykola Melnychenko between President Kuchma and Chairman Yanukovych, the latter said,"Well Leonid Danylovych, a miracle does not happen. The boys who were put in place fulfilled what was asked of them. And, in reality [Oleksander] Moroz came in third. Basically he received 12-13 percent" (Ukrainska Pravda, July 23). Mr. Moroz was officially given 6 percent in Donetsk. The Our Ukraine movement's 2002 election result in the Donetsk Oblast was also reduced from 8-10 percent to less than 4 percent, thereby ensuring they would not enter Parliament. The April mayoral elections in the city of Mukachiv and the June parliamentary elections in the Poltava Oblast have been widely condemned for fraud on the part of state authorities. Yet President Kuchma even awarded a state medal to the head of the Mukachiv Territorial Election Commission (Ukrainska Pravda, July 7).

The use and abuse of state-administrative resources is ongoing. Examples such as Mukachiv and Poltava make it difficult to accept claims by Serhii Tyhypko, head of Mr. Yanukovych's election campaign, that, "I will do everything so that the campaign goes transparently, openly and in a maximum way democratically without quarrels and administrative resources" (Ukrainska Pravda, July 15).

The head of the Kharkiv state administration, Yevhen Kushnariov, openly conceded that state-administrative resources would be abused because of the minimal political culture and disrespect for the rule of law in Ukraine. Mr. Yanukovych's top aide, Volodymyr Rybak, even admitted, "I, for example, am in favor of harnessing administrative resources in total" (Ukrainska Pravda, July 22). To minimize the potential for such manipulation, Mr. Kushnariov recommended that oblast chairmen be popularly elected, rather than appointed by the executive.

However, Mr. Kushnariov has himself abused state-administrative resources to support Mr. Yanukovych. He organized a pro-Yanukovych rally on July 14 that was attended by some 70,000 Kharkiv residents. Most of the crowd turned out because employees in state enterprises and state institutions had been ordered to attend on threat of losing their jobs or being expelled from their university. The Kharkiv branch of Mr. Yushchenko's election campaign received hundreds of complaints from local residents who had been forced to attend the rally. Similarly, Transport Minister Heorhii Kirpa's newly established pro-Kuchma revival party reportedly is forcing employees in the transportation sector to join under threat of losing their jobs or vacation leave (Ukrainska Pravda, July 13 and 17).

How much this type of abuse of state-administrative resources will backfire against the authorities is difficult to foretell. Mr. Yushchenko's supporters handed out campaign literature at the Kharkiv rally, which were eagerly taken (Ukraina Moloda, July 15).

When asked about the Kharkiv rally, Mr. Tyhypko replied, "Administrative resources should not be used in any way." His reasoning was not based on principles, but because, Mr. Tyhypko said, "I fear that it [administrative resources] will bury the candidate and his best qualities" (Ukrainska Pravda, July 15). Attempts to portray Mr. Yanukovych in a better light, particularly by papering over his prison record, will obviously fail if such blatant abuses continue. Anatolii Kinakh, the dissident candidate from the pro-Kuchma camp, warned his colleagues, "I am certain that those who dream about victory obtained only on the basis of administrative resources or domination of the media are deeply wrong" (Ukrainska Pravda, July 10).

The Kuchma camp has utilized state resources in several ways. Meetings have been held in factories or town halls where employees are "advised" by state bureaucrats about which candidate to pick. Reports of people being forced to sign pre-printed texts in support of Mr. Yanukovych have appeared throughout Ukraine, ranging from librarians in the Lviv Oblast, residency associations and students in Sumy, to medical staff and patients in Odesa (Ukrainska Pravda, July 21 and 22). Each signature is reportedly worth one hryvnia (about 20 cents). Teachers are sent instructions to take to the streets and support Mr. Yanukovych when he visits a city. According to Mr. Yanukovych's election team, they have already collected 1 million signatures, when the election law only requires candidates to collect 500,000 (TV Channel 5, July 21).

Other tactics include pressuring bus companies to refuse to transport opposition supporters to rallies, closing roads and denying access to meeting facilities or public squares for opposition rallies (Ukrainska Pravda, June 29).

State-administrative resources can play a negative role against the authorities but, at the same time, they can also assist them in winning elections. They can provide the 5 to 10 percent vote margin to tip the balance in closely fought elections, such as the upcoming presidential race in Ukraine (Ukraina Moloda, July 3).

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