People First: The latest in the watch on Ukrainian democracy

By Viktor Tkachuk.
Viktor Tkachuk

Victor Yanukovych wins cautious support from European Union


As a result of the summit “Ukraine-EU,” held Nov. 22 in Brussels, the leaders of Ukraine and the European Union praised the course of negotiations with the association agreement and the free trade area, coordinated positions in matters of regional cooperation with Russia, Belarus and settlement of Transdnistrian conflict in Moldova and establishing a visa free regime. In this regard, there have been approved the action plan of visa liberalization for Ukraine, which defines all the technical terms that Ukraine must do to ensure progress towards visa-free regime.

In general, Kyiv and Brussels have expressed satisfaction with progress in relations between the European Union and Ukraine. Europe welcomed the economic reforms in Ukraine, especially the new standby agreement with IMF for loan. However, the process of signing an Association Agreement, the European Union leadership has set in dependence on the development of democracy in Ukraine, although not publicly expressed a claim of violations of democratic principles, especially during local elections on Oct. 31. In response, the President Viktor Yanukovych said that Ukraine will fulfil all necessary demands for the completion of negotiations on association and the plan of action for granting visa-free regime in 2011.
People First comment: The president was truly honored in Brussels not simply because the summit was held in one of the most historic palaces in Europe but also by the fact that he was met on the steps by both the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. One would have to ask the question however; why this palace and why this honor? The answer lies in ‘Old’ European diplomacy. Firstly the Europeans were saying to the president that Ukraine is important to Europe, a very good sign indeed. Secondly, they were saying that Europe prefers to use diplomacy and persuasion as opposed to the Russian method of dictate and table thumping. In other words, it was a charm offensive that clearly impressed the president and showed him that Europe is prepared, despite his democratic shortcomings, to treat him as an equal. There was no direct criticism of the recent elections or media censorship or the attacks on civil society and civil rights, Should Ukrainians be worried? Certainly not! If there is one thing Old Europe does extremely well it’s playing diplomatic chess as the terms set by Europe for the free trade area and visa free regime will be politically and economically demanding. If the president wants to continue to be honored in this manner, then he is going to have to move noticeably toward European values as opposed to ‘old Soviet’ gamesmanship.


Kharkiv protests against electoral manipulation

Kyiv and Brussels have expressed satisfaction with progress in relations between the European Union and Ukraine,"

– Viktor Tkachuk

Kharkiv recently began a relentless public protest, backed by residents and over 40 non-governmental organizations, campaigning for a recount of the recent mayoral election. A public meeting to discuss the rights of citizens to fair and transparent elections took place on Nov. 9 and initially gathered around 5,000 participants. Prior to the announcement on the official count, the candidate of the opposition "Batkivshchina" Arsen Avakov had close to a 4 percent lead over his nearest rival – according to the exit polls. Subsequently, however, he lost the election to the candidate of the Party of Regions, Gennadiy Kernes, with a margin of less than 1 percent, which has sparked public outrage, given occasion to protest, spreading claims of election tampering. In response the Kharkiv courts refused Arsen Avakov’s appeals for a recount or re-election and the Kharkiv City Election Commission announced on Nov. 5 the winnerof the election, Gennadiy Kernes.

People First Comment: Vox populi, vox Dei: “The voice of the people is the voice of God” – a Latin proverb referring to the concept that the government ought to pay attention to the voice of the people. It is the right of any majority in any city to freely choose whom they want as the leader in a free and fair vote. That is democracy. If the government manipulate the results of the election to ensure that their candidate wins then that is a criminal fraud perpetrated by a totalitarian regime. At the moment the current government seem to be going through a real identity crisis as they want to be democratic so long as their candidate wins. It’s time for the government to stop hiding behind the mask of democracy. If they are truly democratic then the elections should be re-run in both cities, if they are really totalitarian then they should have the guts to admit it so that the people can fully understand just who those in government really are.

If the president considers the law on access to public information to be an essential factor of democracy, why has the Verkhovna Rada his administration purports to control, failed to pass it on three occasions?"

– Viktor Tkachuk

Ukrainian authorities do not hurry to allow access to public information
The parliament of Ukraine continues to develop amendments to the bill “on access to public information,” stalling the date of its adoption. Currently, representatives of the two largest parties – “Batkivshchina” and the Party of Regions are claiming a strong coordination of positions on the bill; suggesting its potential adoption in the second reading. In an attempt to compromise the effect of the new bill we may see the simultaneous adoption of the new “law on information,” submitted by deputies from the Party of Regions, which can partially counteract these steps towards transparency and open access to public information. However, it appears that most members of parliament understand that the law “on access to public information” should clearly separate public and secret information, giving guidance on their usage and ensuring greater transparency in Ukrainian politics.

The chairman of the presidential administration of Ukraine, Sergey Lyovochkin, stated that Viktor Yanukovych supports the adoption of the law “on access to public information" and considers it an essential factor of democracy in the country. However, the pro-presidential coalition in parliament failed to sign the draft of the law on Oct. 21, and twice postponed its reconsideration.

People First Comment: The president, on his accession impressed the world with the speed at which he created his vertical power structure. One has to therefore ask the question: if the president considers the law on access to public information to be an essential factor of democracy, why has the Verkhovna Rada his administration purports to control, failed to pass it on three occasions?

Government promises to strengthen compliance with licensing rights in Ukraine

Any steps the government takes to lift Ukraine off the bottom of the software piracy league table have to be supported,"

– Viktor Tkachuk

Following a recent meeting of Deputy Prime Minister Boris Kolesnikov with general director of the Microsoft Corporation Steve Ballmer, intentions were announced to completely legitimize all software in government offices within 5-6 months. This will open up opportunities for cooperation with Microsoft in the process of e-government that will improve government transparency and contribute to reducing corruption. To speed up the process of the legalization of software in Ukraine, the government representative requested that Microsoft provide a report on the most significant breaches of licensing rights.

However, according to the results of the 7th annual survey of software piracy by the monitoring company IDC, 85 percent of all software used in Ukraine is unlicensed. Ukraine has the worst rating in Europe and is 9th among the world’s worst countries. Over the next year, the government will be able to demonstrate to the international community the seriousness of its intentions to combat software piracy, which could in turn boost investment growth in the information field of Ukraine, particularly in the development of programmes to create electronic books, and development of new IT technologies.

People First Comment: Any steps the government takes to lift Ukraine off the bottom of the software piracy league table have to be supported. If the government are serious about removing all the pirate software from the governmental system then this is very good step in the right direction that will send a strong message to business and industry. As for the rest of the country we have to look at the economic reality. A ‘legal’ suite of office software today will increase the cost of a computer by up to 70% and that’s a frankly unrealistic price hike in a country where profit margins are already shaved to nothing. The music industry solved the piracy problem by negotiating a special copyright fee for all CD’s produced in Ukraine. Perhaps it is time for the software developers to consider the reality and do same at least for a short period to enable small companies and ordinary people to ‘go legal’. After that then the copyright owners would be well within their rights to prosecute offenders.

Viktor Tkachuk is chief executive officer of the People First Foundation, which seeks to strengthen Ukrainian democracy. The organization’s website is: www.peoplefirst.org.ua and the e-mail address is: [email protected]

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