Alexander Zakharchenko, the current leader of Russian-backed separatist forces in Donbas, said no Ukrainian political parties will be allowed to take part in upcoming elections in the occupied territories.
Nearly two years after a May 2014 referendum that took place in Donetsk on establishing self-rule in the region, Zakharchenko said the elections will be held “in line with the (so-called Donetsk People’s) republic’s laws, because the republic has paid its bloody price for its freedom.”
Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions agreed to postpone their local elections until 2016. In 2015, the leaders of the breakaway Donbas region signed decrees to hold local elections on Nov. 1 and Oct. 18, respectively, while the rest of the country cast their vote on Oct. 25.
There were no elections in separatist-controlled areas in 2015. Thus, the self-proclaimed leaders postponed their plans to hold elections independently and agreed that elections must be held in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution – as stipulated by the Minsk deal – and under the provisions of the law on the special status of Donbas.
“Whether Ukraine wants it or not, we are sticking to the Minsk agreement and must hold elections according to it,” Zakharchenko was quoted as saying at news conference in Donetsk on Jan. 24.
Zakharchenko said no “oligarch parties or those who finance battalions” would be welcome. An exception would be made only for Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party “because he (Lyashko) is funny,” Zakharchenko joked.
Earlier, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said elections on territories that are not controlled by Ukraine could be held only in accordance with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s standards and must include Ukrainian political parties, the Central Election Commission, and international observers.
Internally displaced people should also have rights to take part in the elections, as suggested by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The president also called for the establishment of a special EU mission to ensure transparency and security.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected].
