The Party of Regions, led by presidential candidate Victor Yanukovych, has scheduled a press conference on 15:30 on Feb. 4.
What follows is their written response to what Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko declared on Feb. 3.
"The hysterical statement by Tymoshenko on claiming that yesterday actions by Verkhovna Rada to amend the election laws to protect the right to vote are undemocratic and undermine the integrity of the elections is outright deceitful.
"The legislation passed by the Verkhovna Rada yesterday was submitted on the 27th of January and was meant to fix a deficiency in the current election law regarding the organization and operations of the District Election Commissions (DECs) and Precinct Election Commissions (PECs). Under current law there is a 2/3 quorum requirement for the PECs and DECs to function, including opening the polls on election day and counting the ballots. In the Second Round of a Presidential election, each of the two candidates proposes 50% of the members of the DECs and PECs. This allows one of the parties to undermine the process by denying a quorum. The Second Round of the Presidential election is the only election where this is possible because in all other elections the composition of the committees is made up of representatives of all participating parties or candidates. No party in these other elections is in a position, by itself, to deny a quorum.
"The current election law does not provide for situations where one party’s representatives do not appear at designated times to open the polls or count the ballots. In these situations, the PECs are can be viewed to be technically prohibited from opening the polls or counting the ballots for lack of a quorum." […]
