Yanukovych campaign tries to discredit MP (01/02/05)

Yanukovych campaign tries to discredit MP

KYIV - For the first time in the Ukrainian election crisis, an attempt has been made to discredit a Canadian parliamentarian sent to ensure that the presidential election held on December 26, 2004, was transparent and democratic.

On Thursday and Friday, December 23 and 24, Viktor Yanukovych's campaign manager, Taras Chornovil, appeared on Ukrainian state television and attempted to discredit one of the key figures of the Canadian parliamentary delegation, MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj. Mr. Chornovil said "from the statements made by Canadian Member of Parliament Borys Wrzesnewskyj, it is obvious that he is calling for a coup d'état." Mr. Chornovil provided no basis for his accusation. Mr. Wrzesnewskyj said his use of unfounded allegations harks back to Soviet techniques of disinformation.

"This baseless criticism of my work as a Canadian parliamentarian in supporting fairness and democracy in Ukraine's election process can only be interpreted as obvious disinformation spread for the purpose of discrediting my work and the strong steps taken by the Canadian government in support of democracy in Ukraine," said Mr. Wrzesnewskyj enroute to the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine to observe the elections.

"What makes Mr. Chornovil and Mr. Yanukovych uneasy is that since the first round of elections, Canadian observers have been neutral and they have taken an unprecedented role in the uncovering of fraud, particularly in the second round of voting," MP Wrzesnewskyj noted.

As a result of the observations of Canadian observers and two parliamentary delegations led by Mr. Wrzesnewskyj in the previous two rounds of the presidential election in Ukraine, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion sponsored by Mr. Wrzesnewskyj on November 25, 2004, which underscored that "a concerted, systemic and massive fraud" had been committed against the will of the people of Ukraine, that "the electoral commission does not have a legitimate basis for declaring Mr. Yanukovych the winner of the presidential election" and that "the government of Canada shall consider the introduction of appropriate and effective measures" against those who perpetrated the fraud should another round of elections not be held to remedy the situation.

This unanimous motion passed by the House of Commons was ultimately reinforced by Ukraine's Supreme Court when it called for a rerun of the seconnd round of the election due to the fraud committed during the first two rounds of voting. Canadians also played a significant role in the court's decision as much of the evidence of fraud presented to the court was provided by Canadian election observers.

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