You're reading: US pro-democracy groups to sound alarm about election law

Two U.S. democracy organizations may end their involvement in a Ukrainian working group tasked to develop a new election law after last fall’s flawed local vote.

Sources say the withdrawal, if it happens, would be in protest of the working group’s failure to adhere to international standards of democracy, openness and fairness.

Representatives of the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute are not commenting. But knowledgeable sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said a decision could come within days.

Such a pullout could deepen criticism that Yanukovych, since taking power more than a year ago, is reversing democratic progress.

The working group on election reform is chaired by President Viktor Yanukovych, blamed for holding local elections last October that did not meet democratic standards in the assessment of international and domestic observers.

Yanukovych, of course, has weak democratic credentials. He was the beneficiary of a rigged 2004 presidential election, overturned by the Orange Revolution and Viktor Yushchenko’s election that year. Moreover, the Yanukovych administration is criticized for favoring postponement of parliamentary elections to 2012, instead of 2011.

Sources said that a joint statement by the U.S. institutes could be issued in coming days, in which both announce their decision to stop participating in the working group, which was described by one source as being run like a “Potemkin village.”

Such a pullout could deepen criticism that Yanukovych, since taking power more than a year ago, is reversing democratic progress.

However, sources say the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute may resume activity if the group improves openness to all interested parties, including the opposition, and makes a more honest effort to develop and endorse acceptable draft electoral legislation.

In an opinion piece published in the Kyiv Post on Feb. 25, NDI’s director in Ukraine, Kristina Wilfore, wrote that “last fall’s local elections were a great disappointment for many non-partisan election watchers who had hoped that bad elections in Ukraine were a thing of the past. Unfortunately, three months into the [election law] reform effort, the president’s initiative looks to be equally disappointing.”

Yanukovych countered such criticism by starting a working group in November to bring the electoral legislation in line with generally accepted international democratic standards.

The chairman of the group is Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych. Other members include: deputy presidential administration chiefs, Andriy Honcharuk and Olena Lukash; director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Andriy Yermolaev; chairman of the Central Election Commission, Volodymyr Shapoval; deputy CEC chairman, Andriy Mahera: CEC member Mykhailo Okhendovskiy and parliament deputy Volodymyr Pilipenko.

The press service of Ukraine’s Justice Ministry reported on March 16 that the working group had completed its concept of a future law on parliamentary elections.

“According to the minister, the concept of law was developed with the participation of representatives of all parliamentary factions, as well as deputies belonging to no faction, and representatives of international and domestic NGOs,” Lavrynovych’s spokeswoman said.

But sources close to the working group said that many of its members have not seen the draft legislation, nor have their suggestions been openly welcome.

Okhendovskiy, seen as loyal to Yanukovych, defended the process, saying: “At the working group meeting, members discussed only the main aspects that should be taken into account in preparing the new version of the parliamentary election law. The text of the law itself was not discussed. The text of the law will be prepared taking into account proposals expressed during the group’s meetings.”

In a Jan. 30 interview with The Washington Post, Yanukovych pledged his intention to hear a broad range of international and domestic voices as part of the reform process, which NDI and others applauded. But that seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
– Kristina Wilfore

But in the opinion piece published in the Kyiv Post last month, NDI’s Kristina Wilfore wrote:

“The government, which formed this election law drafting commission unilaterally, has not fully welcomed major opposition parties or non-partisan civic organizations. While some members of the opposition and civil society have been included during later meetings of the working group, their belated participation is not a substitute for substantial involvement. Furthermore, the working group remains a heavily pro-government body.”

She added: “As for transparency, debate, deliberation and drafting – the group’s central functions – are going on behind closed doors, where participants lack the ability to make real decisions.

At the first meeting, those gathered were told that the president would make all decisions on the new law and that its basic structure had already been determined and was non-negotiable. Group members also learned they could not suggest topics for discussion or be informed on how topics were chosen. There have been no drafts to review and no explanation of how the group’s comments are being integrated into the drafting process.”

Wilfore concluded: “In a Jan. 30 interview with The Washington Post, Yanukovych pledged his intention to hear a broad range of international and domestic voices as part of the reform process, which NDI and others applauded. But that seems to have fallen on deaf ears.”

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Kyiv Post staff writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at [email protected]