You're reading: Some voters want bribes

Voters routinely complain about corrupt politicians.

But according to a recent survey, politicians can make the same complaint against some voters.

A June poll by GfK Ukraine shows that 6.2 percent of Ukrainians are willing to cast ballots for candidates who offer them money or presents.

Such attitudes could have a significant effect on the composition of the new parliament, whose 450 members will be elected anew Oct. 28. Polls show that the nation’s political opposition has a chance of winning a majority in the nation’s legislature, which would break President Viktor Yanukovych’s monopoly grip on power.

Hlib Vyshlinsky, deputy director of GfK Ukraine, thinks the real number of Ukrainians who could sell their votes in such a high-stakes contest may be higher.

“There is a notion of a socially acceptable answer,” Vyshlinsky said. “Saying that you will sell your vote is not a socially acceptable answer, so the likelihood is that there are more of them in real life.”

Vyshlinsky said the category of people most likely to trade their votes for favors are those with low incomes, either very young or old and not socially active. The beneficiaries are likely to be candidates from the pro-presidential ruling party. “They are most likely to be Party of Regions voters,” Vyshlinsky said.

A present for the voters from Iryna Berezhna, a member of parliament from the ruling Party of Regions.

Indeed, the candidates for parliament seem to know this already.

In the past month, there have been several reports in the media highlighting politicians’ doling out presents that usually contain staples like buckwheat, butter, pasta and sugar. Such gifts are usually disguised as presents for holidays like Women’s Day or Victory Day, and have a card with a message from the sender. Some 5.6 percent of GfK Ukraine’s respondents said that they have been offered such presents.

Party of Regions deputies Dmytro Svyatash, Iryna Berezhna and Valeriy Pysarenko have handed out such presents. So has former top Kyiv city official Oles Dovhiy, who plans to run as an independent in a single-mandate constituency in Kyiv.

Some are very creative.

Yuliya Lyovochkina, a member of parliament from the Party of Regions and sister of Serhiy Lyovochkin, head of the Presidential Administration, is giving away bicycles for mailmen in Crimea.

On June 29 bicycles with the “Social Centre of Yuliya Lyovochkina” plate were distributed among local postal workers in villages of Kirov district in Crimea where Lyovochkina is expected to run. Activists from the Kirov district uploaded photos on the Internet showing dozens of mailmen gathered for the ceremony.

This billboard shows that work on Olympic Street in Kharkiv is “supported” by pro-presidential Party of Regions member of parliament Irina Gorina.

Another Party of Regions member of parliament, Irina Gorina., who plans to run in her native Kharkiv, was seen distributing food supplies in local school of Frunze district on May 3. According to activists from Spilna Sprava, an NGO that monitors election fraud, on other occasions Gorina also distributed Hr 500 discount cards to teacher for Brocard, a network of beauty shops.

A journalist from Kharkiv, Masha Malevskaya, uploaded on her Facebook a picture from Olympic Street in Kharkiv, showing a billboard promoting Gorina near pavement under repair. “The repair is done with the support of MP Irina Gorina. We apologize for the inconvenience.” reads the board.When contacted by the Kyiv Post, Gorina would not comment.

Others come up with charity ideas. Ihor Lysov, an MP from the Party of Regions advertised free mammography. “Concrete deeds. Mammography. Free checks for women. Ihor Lysov” reads the billboard in Holosiivo district in Kyiv, where Lysov plans to run. The billboards are placed near the Holosiivo district hospital, which is state-owned and provides free services, including mammograms.
The good news is that a majority of Ukrainians – about 52 percent – will not change their minds for such a pittance, according to the poll, while another 30 percent said they’re prepared to take a bribe without promising anything.

And, of course, there is no guarantee that those who receive gifts will vote for the giving candidate – unless there is a payment afterwards in exchange for proof that a ballot was cast the right way.
Oleksandr Chernenko, head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine election watchdog, said that bribes will be a major problem in the coming election.

They might affect the decisions of the 35 percent of voters who are still undecided, according to the same GfK poll of 1,000 people.

Kyiv Post editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at [email protected] and staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected].