Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has promised to introduce to the parliament a bill on tougher liability for bribery of voters next week.
“Next week I will introduce the bill, which, firstly, toughens responsibility for ‘buckwheat’ and both for those, who distribute it, and for those, who secure such activities, for inactivity of the law enforcement agencies,” Poroshenko said in an interview with STB TV on July 25 evening.
Poroshenko also spoke about changing electoral legislation to fix the proportional system of election in Ukraine.
According to him, the coalition agreement stipulates that majority voting will be scrapped as no violence or major violations of the law occurred during proportional elections.
“If the majority candidates remain, then, finally, the court must have the right to remove them [from elections] for bribery, to cancel the elections or reschedule them,” Poroshenko said.
Poroshenko had previously asked Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin to invite international observers to monitor local elections in Ukraine.
“Usually, they are not present at local elections. I think the presence of foreign observers at local elections is very important. We must demonstrate that Ukraine can conduct fair elections, it is my clear task as the President of Ukraine,” Poroshenko said.
