Ukrainian presidential election, 2010
Encyclopedia
The Ukrainian presidential election of 2010 is Ukraine
's fifth presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet Union
in 1991. The first round was held on January 17, 2010. The run-off between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych
followed on February 7, 2010.
On February 14, Viktor Yanukovych, with 48.95% of the popular vote, was declared President-elect and winner of the 2010 Ukrainian Presidential election. According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President must be sworn into office within 30 days from the official declaration of the poll before the Ukrainian parliament. The Ukrainian Parliament then scheduled Yanukovych's inauguration for February 25.
On February 17, 2010, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, suspended the results of the election on appeal from Tymoshenko. The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won the election, but did not postpone or cancel Yanukovych’s inauguration. Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on February 20, 2010.
According to the Constitution of Ukraine, regular elections of the President of Ukraine are held on the last Sunday of the last month of the fifth year of the term of authority of the President of Ukraine. In the event of pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine, elections of the President of Ukraine are held within ninety days from the day of termination of the authority.
Early Presidential elections can be held in case of presidential resignation, ill-health, impeachment
or death.
The President of Ukraine is elected by the citizens of Ukraine for a five-year term, on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.
A candidate seeking election must be a citizen of Ukraine who has attained the age of thirty-five, has the right to vote, has resided in Ukraine for the past ten years prior to the day of elections, and has command of the state language as required by Article 103 of Ukraine's Constitution.
On April 1, 2009, the Verkhovna Rada
designated October 25, 2009, as the date for the first round of voting. Within a week, President Yushchenko filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court against Verkhovna Rada's October 25 date. The President's appeal argued that his inauguration on January 23, 2005, was the commencement of his five-year term of office and as such the next presidential election must be set for the last Sunday before January 23, 2010, in accordance with Article 103.
On May 13, 2009, the court ruled in Yushchenko's favor, striking out the October 25th date for the elections. On May 14, 2009, the Party of Regions
leader Viktor Yanukovych
stated that the presidential elections should now be held on January 17, 2010.
On June 23, 2009, the Parliament
rescheduled the date for the election for Sunday January 17, 2010, with 399 lawmakers out of 442 lawmakers registered in the session hall voted "for" the resolution "On appointing of regular election of President of Ukraine".
Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko
said on September 21, 2009, that he believes that the lists of voters at this Presidential election will be more qualitative and more "clear" than it was at previous elections because "double names" were removed from the list. The same day the Party of Regions
complained about a lot of mistakes in that list and that the number of voters fell in the Southern Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine and increased by 0.5–1% in Western Ukraine. It is the first time the state register of voters will be used in a Ukrainian election.
first-past-the-post
voting system. The first round of voting was held on January 17, 2010. As no candidate in the first round ballot had 50% or more votes the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second round ballot which was held on February 7, 2010. Victor Yanukovych received the highest vote (48.96%) and is expected to be declared the winner. Under Ukrainian law president elect must take the oath within 30 days of the declaration of the poll which must be made before February 17, 2010.
On July 24, 2009, the Verkhovna Rada
(Ukrainian parliament) amended the Law on Presidential Elections reducing the official presidential campaign from 120 to 90 days.
Outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko refused to sign the new law and lodged an appeal in Ukraine's Constitutional Court, but failed to outline in detail the grounds for any appeal. The speaker of the parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn, signed the amended law into existence following the President's refusal to sign it.
Maryna Stavniychuk, deputy head of the presidential secretariat and the President's spokesperson on legal matters stated "It is obvious that there are no serious political or legal grounds to consider the issue of the possible disruption of the presidential elections in Ukraine"
The amended law on the Presidential elections required candidates to pay a 2,500,000 hryvnias (~308,000 USD
) nomination deposit which will only be refunded to the two highest polling candidates that progressed to the second round of voting.
On October 19, 2009, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
formed the 225 territorial election districts needed for carrying out the election.
October 20, 2009, Ukraine's Constitutional Court announced its ruling declaring unconstitutional five aspects of the new law of the Presidential election. Voters abroad will no longer have to be registered with the Ukrainian consulate in order to cast a vote. The courts will retain the right to consider without limitations any application or appeal in respect to a candidate's registration or the conduct of the election. The cancellation of absentee ballots remains as does the 90 day election period and the 2.5 million hryvnia deposit. The ruling of the Constitutional Court is not expected to impact seriously on the election as the amended legislation remains in place.
On December 21, 2009, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine formed 113 foreign polling stations.
Voters are permitted to vote at home during the Presidential election.
has estimated the budget of the holding of regular presidential elections in Ukraine at 1.5 billion hryvnias
(approximately 200 million US dollars
) with additional costs required by candidates to fund their campaigns.
Each candidate is required to pay an election deposit of 2.5 million hryvnias (Approximately 300,000 US dollars) The deposit will be refunded to the two highest polling candidates who progress to the second round of elections.
On November 26 the Central Election Commission stated a total of 1.314 billion hryvnias is required to hold the presidential election, including 192.2 million in 2009 and 1.122 billion in 2010.
Assessments by political analysts show that each presidential candidate will have to spend at least US $150–200mn to promote himself; this includes buying story lines in the media, visual advertising, canvassing, printing political material and, work with electoral commissions.
Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Oleksandr Chernenko, also commented that Presidential candidates will spend 1 billion US dollars on the election campaign
The cost of the run-off ballot is estimated to cost US$119 million
As no single candidate had 50% or more of the total recorded vote the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second round ballot. The candidate with the highest vote in the second round will win the election.
According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President-elect within 30 days of the declaration of the poll must be sworn into office before Ukraine's parliament
The Central Election Commission refused to register Oleksandr Hordiichuk, Olena Osnach, Oleksandr Luzan, Hanna Kostiv, Oleksandr Vaschenko, Oleksandr Ohorodnikov, Vasyl Handula, Yurii Petlevana, Petro Rekalo, Anatolii Polischuk, Mykhailo Hamaniuk, Oleksandr Vretyk, Artem Polezhaka, Oleh Omelchenko, Natalia Vitrenko, Mykola Melnychenko
, Serhii Martyian and Serhiy Schetinin. The reason stated was due to errors in their documentation, qualifications or failure to pay the required 2.5 million hryvnia nomination deposit.
Nominations closed on November 9, 2009. The Central Election Commission had until November 11 to process nomination documentations and November 13 to finalize the election list.
distributing campaign material for Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Front for Changes and large scale and billboards stating Others make problems. She Works (in the colors and letter type of Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko), and photos of Sergei Tigipko displayed in most Ukrainian towns and TV-adds of Yulia Tymoshenko
and Volodymyr Lytvyn
shown on national TV. According to Tymoshenko the "She Works" billboards were paid for by the Fatherland Party, and therefore they were also "social". Party of Regions
deputy Andry Paruby officially requested that the prosecutor-general's office investigates the sources of financing of Tymoshenko's advertisements. He suggested that public money might have been used.
Ukraine has proven more than once the degree to which the success of an election campaign depends on the level of professionalism and political spin techniques applied in election campaigns.
The most popular candidates are former Prime Minister
and leader of the Opposition party
Viktor Yanukovych
and current Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
.
Incumbent President
Viktor Yushchenko's
support has slumped from a high of 52% in 2004 to below 3% in Ukrainian public opinion polls. Most political commentators regard him as a heavy underdog who stands little chance of being re-elected to a second term of office. A recent public opinion poll indicated that 83% of Ukrainians will not vote for Yushchenko
On April 5, 2009, Arseniy Yatseniuk, former Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
announced his intention to run in the election. His popularity has slowly risen to around 12–14% and is now in third place behind Yanukovych and Tymoshenko.
According to Oxford Analytica
the working relationship between President Yushchenko and his Prime Minister Tymoshenko will be further complicated by the search of Yushchenko for partners other than Tymoshenko's Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko who will ensure his re-election. Since Yushchenko dismissed Tymoshenko as Prime Minister on September 8, 2005, the relations between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko, including the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine
, have been hostile. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
of 11 February 2009 Tymoshenko said her recent conflict with the President is a political competition and not ideological antagonisms and she emphasized that the "election struggle for the next presidential elections has virtually begun." During a visit to Brussels
on February 10, 2009, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn
seconded that. In late February 2009, President Yushchenko called on all Ukrainian politicians to "stop the presidential election campaign until July 1."
On June 16, 2009, Tymoshenko accused Yuschenko, Yatseniuk and Yanukovych of having the same campaign headquarters financed by (businessman and) RosUkrEnergo
owner Dmytro Firtash
.
Tymoshenko stated on June 22, 2009: "There is a team work on solving these issues between the President and the Prime Minister. Professional advice and support of the President will help the government during difficult times".
On August 11, 2009 Russian President Medvedev
in an open letter directed at Viktor Yushchenko, raised a number of issues of concern related to the perceived "anti-Russian position of the current Ukrainian authorities". The Russian President's comments were considered by analysts and others including the President of Ukraine as Russia's interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs.
On September 12, 2009, a tour called "With Ukraine in Heart" in support of Yulia Tymoshenko kick-started on Kiev
's Maidan Nezalezhnosti
. The most popular singers and bands of Ukraine took part in the tour.
On September 14, 2009, the Communist Party of Ukraine
, the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), the Justice Party and the Union of Leftists
signed an agreement on creating the bloc of leftists and center-leftists and a unitary participation in the presidential election.
The Pechersky district court in Kiev on September 22, 2009, banned "any unfair advertisement" against Tymoshenko in response to a video (allegedly made by the Party of Regions
), which claimed that Tymoshenko does not deliver on her promises. The video reportedly mocked Tymoshenko's main campaign slogan "She Works," which is frequently used in her advertisements.
In October 2009 representatives of the Western Ukrainian intelligentsia
called upon the candidates Yuschenko, Yatseniuk, Hrytsenko and "other representatives of national democratic forces" to withdraw in favour of Tymoshenko.
On October 6, 2009, the incumbent
President Yushchenko warned that there may be attempts to use regional television and radio companies to create advantages for the government
in the election campaign.
October 17, 2009, The Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine has backed a decision to create the bloc of left and center-left political forces and supported the leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine Petro Symonenko as a single candidate for the post of the Ukrainian president from left political forces
October 19 Official start of the Elections campaign 90 day period.
October 20 Candidate nomination registration opens. Oleh Riabokon first candidate to officially nominate.
October 20, Ukrainian Parliament voted to amend Ukraine's Constitution (390 out of 438 in favor) to remove provision related to Parliamentary immunity that prevents a member of parliament from being criminally liable, detained or arrested without the consent of the Verkhovna Rada. An earlier proposal to only remove immunity from the Parliament was defeated. The proposed new provisions also limits presidential immunity. The president can not be detained or arrested without the consent of the parliament however on conviction of an offense the President automatically loses office. The proposed amendments have been forwarded to Ukraine's Constitutional Court
for review and will need to be reaffirmed by the parliament in February 2010
Political Analyst and senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Andrew Wilson, has cast doubt on Arseny Yatseniuk, currently Ukraine's third most popular candidate, ability to maintain his meteoritic rise following a decline in his ratings dropping from a high of 13% in August to 9% in October. "Yatseniuk must look to plan B"
On November 6 the nominations were closed. The same day a Viktor Yushchenko aide amidst concern over the recent flu outbreak
which claimed 97 lives has proposed the cancellation of the January election until May 2010 which would extend the President's term of office a further six months. The World Health Organisation has stated that they expect a second and third wave of infections to occur in Spring (April to June) bringing into further doubt Yushchenko's proposed cancellation. Under Ukraine's Constitution the elections can be canceled if a State of Emergency
is declared. Also on November 6. 2009 the Emergencies Ministry stated it saw no grounds to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine due to the flu epidemic. On November 9 President Yushchenko said the same.
Serhy Lutsenko, the deputy head of the People's Self-Defense party expressed on November 11, 2009, concern that Viktor Yushchenko will support his past rival, Viktor Yanukovych, in a run-off election between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko.
On December 3, 2009, the Ukrainian National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting complained that certain TV channels did not give equal conditions to all presidential candidates.
On December 11, 2009, the European People's Party
EPP called on "Ukraine's democratic forces" to unite around the most democratic candidate who will win through to the presidential run-off. All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland", the Our Ukraine People's Union, and the People's Movement of Ukraine
(Rukh) are the EPP's partners in Ukraine.
On December 11, 2009, candidate Viktor Yanukovych stated that his Party of Regions possesses information that "government representatives are currently "motivating" the chairmen of election commissions and seeking options for victory in every possible way" and called for his supporters go to the Maidan Nezalezhnosti
in case of election fraud.
Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko proposes a referendum on the format of Constitutional reform - Parliamentary versus Presidential system of governance
As no single candidate had received 50% or more votes in the first round ballot the two highest polling candidates, Viktor Yanukovych (35.32%) and Yulia Tymoshenko (25.05%) progressed to the second final run-off ballot which was held on February 7, 2010.
Ukraine's incumbent president, Viktor Yushchenko, with 5.45% support, came in fifth place behind Serhiy Tihipko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk who had each respectively received 13.05% and 6.69% of the vote.
Peter Simonenko, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Oleh Tyahnybok and Anatoliy Hrytsenko all scored between 4 and 1% of the votes. The remaining nine candidates for the presidency gained less than 1% of the votes.
Exit poll
s indicated that Viktor Yanukovych has been elected Ukraine's next president. The National Election Poll placed Yanukovych to finish first in Sunday's runoff ballot, securing 48.7 percent of the vote with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on 45.5 percent.
With 100% of the ballots counted, the tally is 12,481,268 votes for Yanukovich (48.95%) and 11,593,340 votes for Tymoshenko (45.47%), giving Yanukovich a lead of 3.48%. There were 1.19% invalid votes and 4.36% of voters chose to vote "Against all" (candidates). In Kiev
, the number of voter choosing "Against all" was close to 8%.
The Ukrainian Central Election Commission and international observers found no evidence of significant electoral fraud and said that the voting and counting was fair. Tymoshenko's party said that it would challenge the result in 1,000 of the country's 30,000 ballot boxes (as many as 900,000 ballots – enough to make a difference in the final outcome), claiming that the counting process was unfair. Violations cited by Tymoshenko’s camp included home voting and the busing of voters to polling stations, which was explicitly permitted by law.
Yanukovich's party
activists rallied outside the buildings of the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine and the Kiev Administrative Court of Appeals the days after the second round of the election.
A few days after the election, Yanukovich received congratulations from the leaders of Armenia
, Austria
, Azerbaijan
, Belarus
, Bulgaria
, China
, Egypt
, Estonia
, Finland
, France
, Georgia
, Germany
, Greece
, Hungary
, Israel
, Italy
, Kazakhstan
, Latvia
, Libya
, Lithuania
, Republic of Macedonia
, Moldova
, the Netherlands
, Paraguay
, Poland
, Portugal
, Russia
, Slovakia
, Slovenia
, Spain
, Sweden
, Tajikistan
, Turkey
the United Kingdom
, the United States
, Uzbekistan
, NATO and the European Union
. Still, Tymoshenko refused to concede defeat, and Tymoshenko's party promised to challenge the result. On February 17, 2010 the Administrative Court of Ukraine, suspended the results of the election on Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal. The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won the election. Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on February 20, 2010 after the Higher Administrative Court in Kiev
rejected her petition to scrutinize documents from election districts in Crimea
and also to question election and law-enforcement officials. The same day (February 20) Tymoshenko announced that she will not challenge the results of the second round of the presidential election in the Supreme Court of Ukraine
since she believed there were no legal provisions for such an appeal, although Tymoshenko also stated "an honest court will assess that Yanukovych wasn’t elected President of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged".
Voting analysis showed that during the election creases started to emerge across the traditional geographical voters patterns. Tymoshenko made inroads in Yanukovych’s traditional east
and south Ukraine base of support, whereas Yanukovych did the same in Tymoshenko’s traditional west and central Ukraine base of support. More women voted for Yanukovych than for Tymoshenko.
s conducted during the final round of voting reported a win for Viktor Yanukovych over Yulia Tymoshenko.
According to the Director of the Penta Center for Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko there were only small differences in the election programs of the various candidates.
A December 2009 poll found that 82 percent of Ukrainians expect vote rigging, these fears were shared by some election observers, both international and domestic. The later also fearing the lack of an independent exit poll; which they see as essential to deterring vote fraud.
Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's Prime-minister and one of the main candidates seeking election in January's poll has stated that "We will not challenge any election returns to avoid tremors, which may bring about instability in this country. If the people elect their president, and this is not Yulia Tymoshenko, I will take this choice easy, for sure"
Former President Leonid Kuchma has also excluded the possibility of a third round ballot. According to Kuchma, "during the election campaign in 2004 the decision about holding the third round was political and it will not be repeated. The 2004 decision was an exclusion from a rule".
Viktor Baloha, former presidential secretary under Viktor Yushchenko stated "Alarming declarations about the likely vote rigging directly point to organizational weaknesses of some candidates as the law allows for reliable barriers against any electoral fraud. For instance, any presidential candidate can send his two representatives to sit on local and regional electoral commissions, appoint observers to keep an eye on voting and counting of ballots. Proxies of candidates who have wide authority can also supervise the course of the voting". "There are more than enough supervisory tools. Other effective barriers to electoral fraud are the Central Election Commission [whose members are appointed by major parliamentary parties on a quota principle] and numerous international observers. Mass media and NGOs, notably, the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, will also be effective in helping to curb fraud. Of great importance for establishing the final tally are also exit polls run by respected polling companies.they will all be used during the campaign." adding that "All the more so that there are 18 presidential candidates, some having considerable weight. That is why any declarations about the likely fraud are just attempts to justify a defeat of those who make them. Note that those candidates who are selling themselves as strong-willed and tough are most given to such declarations. In fact, such declarations expose them as would-be losers and outsiders"
Candidates Victor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko
both accused the other of intending to use vote rigging to win the election during the election campaign. Early January 2010 Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko warned that there is a real threat of "administrative pressure
" being applied during the counting of votes at the presidential election. Viktor Yushchenko without providing any details has alleged that the highest threat of falsification in the first round will be applied by Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc; "because candidate Viktor Yanukovych will enter the second round in any case".
Allegations have been made that Viktor Yushchenko has made a deal with Viktor Yanukovych in order to secure a number of political positions for members of his team in exchange for supporting Viktor Yanukovych's campaign Concern has been expressed that Viktor Yushchenko had tried to prevent news of the deal from being published by declaring it a State Secret.
A joint poll conducted by Democratic Initiatives and Ukrainian Sociology Service of January 2010 showed that less than 5% of the polled believed that the presidential election would be fair with 41.4% respondents that believed that the election results could be manipulated and 15.7% being certain that the entire vote would be rigged. According to the same poll 5.8% of those polled stated they were ready to sell their votes if the sum suited them and 1.9% of the respondents were ready to sell their votes for any presidential candidates and for any funds.
A voter casting more than one ballot, or selling her/his vote, could face as much as two years jail time.
A poll released December 15, 2009, by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems
has indicated that Viktor Yanukovych (31%) as the most likely to win the Presidential election in a contest with Yulia Tymoshenko (19%). All other candidates were below 5% with Victor Yushchenko on 3.5% with a negativity rating of 83%. The survey also indicated that Ukrainians are pessimistic about the socio-political situation in the country. Seventy-four percent believe Ukraine is on a path toward instability and more than nine in ten Ukrainians are dissatisfied with the economic (96%) and political situation (92%) in the country.
According to other recent opinion polls, the Party of Regions
candidate Viktor Yanukovych
(25.0% to 33.3%) was placed first among viable presidential candidates, with Prime Minister
Yulia Tymoshenko
(15.5% to 18.4%) coming in second, and Front for Change
candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk
(6.7% to 14.5%) in third place. Incumbent President, Viktor Yushchenko
(2.0% to 3.8%) following his decline in popularity with the Ukrainian public comes in at a distant sixth place behind leader of the Communist Party
Petro Symonenko
(3.4% to 4.5%) and Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn
(1.4% to 5.8%).
A survey conducted by U.S.-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (November 21 to 29) lists Viktor Yushchenko as the highest negativity rating (83%) and Viktor Yanukovych with the most positive rating (42%)
An opinion poll conducted by FOM-Ukraine
in September/October 2009 expected the turnout to be at least 85.1%. The poll carried out by the Oleksandr Yaremenko Institute for Social Research in December 2009 predicted (at least) a 70% turnout.
Media were prohibited by Ukrainian law from reporting the results of public opinion polls for the election (starting) from January 2 until election day on January 17, 2009.
expected (in November 2009) that some 600 international observers will be monitoring the elections. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will send around 60 long-term and 600 short-term observers to Ukraine to monitor the presidential elections, Ukraine had submitted an invitation to the OSCE to monitor the elections.
This electoral observation mission is headed by Portuguese
politician João Soares, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The OSCE/ODIHR long term observation mission was officially opened on November 26, 2009. On January 12, 2009, the OSCE where not satisfied with the level of funding for salaries and transport services.
The European Union
member-states will send over 700 observers to monitor the elections. The Canada Ukraine Foundation (a Canadian
NGO) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) will also send observers. The PACE delegation is led by Hungarian
politician Matyas Eorsi
. Late November the PACE delegation was sceptical the elections would meet the organization's standards. On December 8, 2009 Renate Wohlwend, co-rapporteur of PACE stated that PACE might continue to monitor Ukrainian politics after the country's presidential election. Wohlwend had also called on the Ukrainian parliament to amend a law on the presidential elections as soon as possible. Wohlwend expressed concern over the inclusion of a provision in Ukraine's electoral legislation giving the election commission the right to amend the electoral rolls on the day of the ballot. She expressed concern this could allow the rigging of the election results
.
The Polish
European Center of Geopolitical Analysis did send 20 observers to monitor signs of xenophobia
during the presidential election campaign.
On December 9, 2009, candidate Victor Yanukovych at a meeting with an OSCE election observation mission stated that he is afraid Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
might rig the presidential election.
A total of 450 official observers from the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) will monitor the elections.
Paweł Kowal lead the delegation of the European Parliament
's observers; this delegation included ten people, who cooperated closely with the delegations of observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR).
A total of 3,149 international observers did monitor the January 17 presidential election in Ukraine.
On January 18, 2010, the OSCE announced it would send same number of observers to monitor Ukraine's second round of the election as in the first round. At the same time it called for bringing Ukraine's election laws in line with international norms but nevertheless it endorsed the first round of the Ukrainian presidential poll, saying it was of "high quality" and demonstrated "significant progress".
After the second round of the election international observers and the OSCE called the election transparent and honest.
According to Serhiy Paskhalov, the head of presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko's main campaign office in Dnipropetrovsk
, international observers were physically unable to register mass irregularities in the second round of the presidential election. According to Paskhalov six foreign observers had monitored the run-off presidential election at 469 polling stations in six electoral districts in Dnipropetrovsk region.
The first round of the election was held on January 17, 2010. Voter turnout was approximately 67 percent, compared to 75 percent at the 2004 presidential election
. Incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko
was defeated having received only 5.45% of the vote. Viktor Yanukovych
and Yulia Tymoshenko
finished first and second in the first round and faced each other in the second round ballot held on February 7. Voter turnout in the second round was approximately 69%. On February 14, with all second round votes counted, Yanukovich was officially declared a winner of the election with 48.95%, compared to Tymoshenko's 45.47%.
The election has been widely recognized and endorsed as being fair and an accurate reflection of voters' intentions by all international agencies observing the election including the OSCE and PACE
.
Note: The above maps are based on the percentage of the national vote and as such is an accurate representation of the results of the election as each region is shown in relation to the overall result.
Note: The above maps based on the percentage of the regional vote distorts the representation of the results of the election as each region does not contain an equal number of constituents. Ukraine's Presidential election is a national ballot not regional..
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
's fifth presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1991. The first round was held on January 17, 2010. The run-off between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
followed on February 7, 2010.
On February 14, Viktor Yanukovych, with 48.95% of the popular vote, was declared President-elect and winner of the 2010 Ukrainian Presidential election. According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President must be sworn into office within 30 days from the official declaration of the poll before the Ukrainian parliament. The Ukrainian Parliament then scheduled Yanukovych's inauguration for February 25.
On February 17, 2010, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, suspended the results of the election on appeal from Tymoshenko. The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
Central Election Commission of Ukraine
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ; sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine) is a permanent and independent collegiate body of the Ukrainian government.- Mission and Authority :...
ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won the election, but did not postpone or cancel Yanukovych’s inauguration. Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on February 20, 2010.
Background
In Ukraine, the previous two presidential first round ballots have traditionally occurred in October.According to the Constitution of Ukraine, regular elections of the President of Ukraine are held on the last Sunday of the last month of the fifth year of the term of authority of the President of Ukraine. In the event of pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine, elections of the President of Ukraine are held within ninety days from the day of termination of the authority.
Early Presidential elections can be held in case of presidential resignation, ill-health, impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
or death.
The President of Ukraine is elected by the citizens of Ukraine for a five-year term, on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.
A candidate seeking election must be a citizen of Ukraine who has attained the age of thirty-five, has the right to vote, has resided in Ukraine for the past ten years prior to the day of elections, and has command of the state language as required by Article 103 of Ukraine's Constitution.
On April 1, 2009, the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
designated October 25, 2009, as the date for the first round of voting. Within a week, President Yushchenko filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court against Verkhovna Rada's October 25 date. The President's appeal argued that his inauguration on January 23, 2005, was the commencement of his five-year term of office and as such the next presidential election must be set for the last Sunday before January 23, 2010, in accordance with Article 103.
On May 13, 2009, the court ruled in Yushchenko's favor, striking out the October 25th date for the elections. On May 14, 2009, the Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
leader Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
stated that the presidential elections should now be held on January 17, 2010.
On June 23, 2009, the Parliament
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
rescheduled the date for the election for Sunday January 17, 2010, with 399 lawmakers out of 442 lawmakers registered in the session hall voted "for" the resolution "On appointing of regular election of President of Ukraine".
Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko
Yuriy Lutsenko
Yuriy Vitaliyovych Lutsenko is a Ukrainian politician and statesman and former Minister of Internal Affairs, he occupied this post in the two Cabinets of Yulia Tymoshenko and in Cabinets of Yuriy Yekhanurov, and Viktor Yanukovych...
said on September 21, 2009, that he believes that the lists of voters at this Presidential election will be more qualitative and more "clear" than it was at previous elections because "double names" were removed from the list. The same day the Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
complained about a lot of mistakes in that list and that the number of voters fell in the Southern Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine and increased by 0.5–1% in Western Ukraine. It is the first time the state register of voters will be used in a Ukrainian election.
Law on presidential elections
Ukraine's President is elected by a two-roundTwo-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...
voting system. The first round of voting was held on January 17, 2010. As no candidate in the first round ballot had 50% or more votes the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second round ballot which was held on February 7, 2010. Victor Yanukovych received the highest vote (48.96%) and is expected to be declared the winner. Under Ukrainian law president elect must take the oath within 30 days of the declaration of the poll which must be made before February 17, 2010.
On July 24, 2009, the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
(Ukrainian parliament) amended the Law on Presidential Elections reducing the official presidential campaign from 120 to 90 days.
Outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko refused to sign the new law and lodged an appeal in Ukraine's Constitutional Court, but failed to outline in detail the grounds for any appeal. The speaker of the parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn, signed the amended law into existence following the President's refusal to sign it.
Maryna Stavniychuk, deputy head of the presidential secretariat and the President's spokesperson on legal matters stated "It is obvious that there are no serious political or legal grounds to consider the issue of the possible disruption of the presidential elections in Ukraine"
The amended law on the Presidential elections required candidates to pay a 2,500,000 hryvnias (~308,000 USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) nomination deposit which will only be refunded to the two highest polling candidates that progressed to the second round of voting.
On October 19, 2009, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
Central Election Commission of Ukraine
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ; sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine) is a permanent and independent collegiate body of the Ukrainian government.- Mission and Authority :...
formed the 225 territorial election districts needed for carrying out the election.
October 20, 2009, Ukraine's Constitutional Court announced its ruling declaring unconstitutional five aspects of the new law of the Presidential election. Voters abroad will no longer have to be registered with the Ukrainian consulate in order to cast a vote. The courts will retain the right to consider without limitations any application or appeal in respect to a candidate's registration or the conduct of the election. The cancellation of absentee ballots remains as does the 90 day election period and the 2.5 million hryvnia deposit. The ruling of the Constitutional Court is not expected to impact seriously on the election as the amended legislation remains in place.
On December 21, 2009, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine formed 113 foreign polling stations.
Voters are permitted to vote at home during the Presidential election.
Costs
The Central Election CommissionCentral Election Commission of Ukraine
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ; sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine) is a permanent and independent collegiate body of the Ukrainian government.- Mission and Authority :...
has estimated the budget of the holding of regular presidential elections in Ukraine at 1.5 billion hryvnias
Ukrainian hryvnia
The hryvnia, sometimes hryvnya or grivna ; sign: ₴, code: , has been the national currency of Ukraine since September 2, 1996. The hryvnia is subdivided into 100 kopiyok. In medieval times, it was a currency of Kievan Rus'....
(approximately 200 million US dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) with additional costs required by candidates to fund their campaigns.
Each candidate is required to pay an election deposit of 2.5 million hryvnias (Approximately 300,000 US dollars) The deposit will be refunded to the two highest polling candidates who progress to the second round of elections.
On November 26 the Central Election Commission stated a total of 1.314 billion hryvnias is required to hold the presidential election, including 192.2 million in 2009 and 1.122 billion in 2010.
Assessments by political analysts show that each presidential candidate will have to spend at least US $150–200mn to promote himself; this includes buying story lines in the media, visual advertising, canvassing, printing political material and, work with electoral commissions.
Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Oleksandr Chernenko, also commented that Presidential candidates will spend 1 billion US dollars on the election campaign
The cost of the run-off ballot is estimated to cost US$119 million
Timetable
Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has set the following timetable for the conduct of the election:- October 19: Official 90 day Election Campaign period commences
- October 20 to November 6: Nominations open
- November 9: Deadline for nomination document/submissions
CEC has five days to assess and approve or reject nominations
- November 11: Deadline for candidates to submit any corrections to documentation
- November 13: CEC to finalize registration of nominations
- November 15: CEC to publish nomination lists of candidates
CEC provides certified copies of the voters list to all candidates. Within Three days of registration Candidates must provide a statement of assets and income. Candidates allowed to commence official campaign one day after registration is finalized.
- December 9: Foreign polling stations to be set up.
- December 15: CEC to approve ballot paper format ready for printing.
- December 21: Deadline for withdrawals of candidature.
- January 2: Last day for public opinion polls to be published prior to election.
- January 9: All ballot papers to be printed and ready for distribution to polling stations/districts.
- January 15: Last day of public campaigning before polling day
- January 17: Election (First round ballot) Polling commences 8 am and closes 10 pm
- January 22: Tabulation of overseas and territorial polling place to be completed
- January 27: Determination of voting results and declaration of poll
As no single candidate had 50% or more of the total recorded vote the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second round ballot. The candidate with the highest vote in the second round will win the election.
- February 7: Final round run-off ballot
- February 17: Declaration of the election must be made within 10 days following the ballot or within 3 days of receipt of the official election protocols.
According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President-elect within 30 days of the declaration of the poll must be sworn into office before Ukraine's parliament
- February 25: Viktor Yanukovych is sworn into office.
Nominated candidates
The following candidates nominated for the Presidential elections (in ballot paper order)- Inna BohoslovskaInna BohoslovskaInna Hermanivna Bohoslovska is a Ukrainian politician. She is known for her political tension with Yulia Tymoshenko as one of the main opponents. Bohoslovska was a candidate for President of Ukraine in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential elections.-Biography:...
, member of Verkhovna RadaVerkhovna RadaThe Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
, unaffiliated (block Party of Regions) - Mykhaylo BrodskyyMykhaylo BrodskyyMykhailo Brodsky is a Ukrainian politician, leader of the Party of Free Democrats and businessman.-Biography:...
, leader of the Party of Free DemocratsParty of Free DemocratsThe Party of Free Democrats is a political party in Ukraine led by Mykhaylo Brodskyy. It was registered in November 1999 as Yabluko . The party has about 1,000 members.-History:... - Anatoliy HrytsenkoAnatoliy HrytsenkoAnatoliy Stepanovych Hrytsenko is a former Minister of Defence of Ukraine.Political affiliation: Member of Our Ukraine and leader of the All-Ukrainian Public Organization Civil Position and Civil Position....
, member of Our Ukraine, former Minister of Defense - Yuriy KostenkoYuriy KostenkoYuriy Kostenko is a Ukrainian politician and leader of the Ukrainian People's Party.Kostenko holds a Ph.D from the Zaporizhia Institute of Engineering. In 1989, he became one of the founders of Rukh and has been a Member of the Verkhovna Rada since 1990 . In 2002 as a member of Our Ukraine...
, Ukrainian People's PartyUkrainian People's PartyThe Ukrainian People's Party is a political party in Ukraine, led by Yury Kostenko, registered on Old Year's Day 1999 as Ukrainian National Movement .-History:...
deputy of Verkhovna Rada for Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc - Volodymyr LytvynVolodymyr LytvynVolodymyr Mykhailovych Lytvyn is a Ukrainian politician and the current Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. Having previously served in that position from 2002 until 2006, he was re-elected in December 2008 after his party agreed to join the former coalition of Yulia...
, parliamentary speaker - Oleksandr MorozOleksandr MorozOleksandr Oleksandrovych Moroz is a Ukrainian statesman and politician. He was the Speaker of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine twice: July 2006 to September 2007, and previously in 1994 through 1998. Moroz is one of the founders and leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, which was an influential...
, Socialist Party of UkraineSocialist Party of UkraineThe Socialist Party of Ukraine is a Socialist political party in Ukraine and part of the Verkhovna Rada from 1994 to 2007.It is one of the oldest parties and was created by the former members of the Communist Party of Ukraine in late 1991 when the Communist Party was banned...
, former chairman of the Verkhovna RadaVerkhovna RadaThe Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman... - Oleksandr PabatOleksandr PabatOleksandr Viktorovych Pabat is a Ukrainian politician and businessman and leader of the Ukrainian political organisation Peoples' Salvation Army....
, Peoples' Salvation ArmyPeoples' Salvation Army-History:The movement was initiated in 2009 by Oleksandr Pabat. The organisation claims Ukraine is "on the brink of disaster" and it intends to "save" Ukraine trough a structured plan where everybody can contribute to by attending mass rallies or calling a "hot line"... - Vasily Protyvsih, Independent
- Serhiy RatushniakSerhiy RatushniakSerhiy Mykolayovych Ratushnyak is a former Mayor of Uzhhorod and was a self-nominated candidate in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election. During the election Ratushnyak received 0,12% of the votes.-Biography:Ratushniak was born in Uzhgorod, Ukrainian SSR...
- Oleh Riabokon, Independent lawyer, Managing Partner in MagistersMagistersMagisters is a large CIS-based law firm with 100+ lawyers in 5 countries and a total staff of more than 200.Magisters was founded in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1997 as Magister & Partners...
law firm from 1997 to 2009 - Petro SymonenkoPetro SymonenkoPetro Mykolayovych Symonenko is a Ukrainian politician and the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Symonenko was the Communist Party's candidate in both the 1999 and 2004 presidential elections. During the Ukrainian presidential election, 2010 he was the candidate of the Election...
, Leader of the Communist Party of UkraineCommunist Party of UkraineThe Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,... - Liudmyla SuprunLiudmyla SuprunLiudmyla Pavlivna Suprun is a Ukrainian politician.Suprun was a candidate in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election nominated by People's Democratic Party, during the election she received 0,19% of the votes....
, People's Democratic PartyPeople's Democratic Party (Ukraine)-History:The party had a flying start, at the parliamentary elections 1998 the party gained 5% of the votes and 28 seats in Parliament. At the time of the election the party's leader, Valeriy Pustovoitenko, was prime minister.... - Yulia TymoshenkoYulia TymoshenkoYulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
, Incumbent Prime MinisterPrime Minister of UkraineThe Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
leader of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc - Sergei Tigipko, former CEO of the National Bank of Ukraine endorsed by Labour UkraineLabour UkraineStrong Ukraine ; former Labour Party Ukraine , is a political party in Ukraine registered in August 1999. The party claims to have over 80,000 members as of mid-May 2010. It is currently negotiating a merge with the Party of Regions....
- Oleh TyahnybokOleh TyahnybokOleh Yaroslavovych Tyahnybok is a Ukrainian right-wing politician and former parliamentary of Verkhovna Rada. He also is the leader of All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom", a former candidate to the President of Ukraine, and a deputy of the Lviv Regional Council....
, All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom", deputy of the Lviv Regional Council - Viktor YushchenkoViktor YushchenkoViktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
, Incumbent President and member of Our Ukraine - Viktor YanukovychViktor YanukovychViktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
, Party of RegionsParty of RegionsThe Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
former Prime MinisterPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
and runner-up candidate in the 2004 presidential electionUkrainian presidential election, 2004The Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 was held on October 31, November 21 and December 26, 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union... - Arseniy YatsenyukArseniy YatsenyukArseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer. Yatsenyuk served in the government of Ukraine as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2006; subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007 and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from 2007 to 2008.-Early life:Arseniy...
, former Chairman of the Verkhovna RadaChairman of the Verkhovna RadaThe Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The speaker presides over the parliament and its procedures. They are elected by secret ballot from the parliament's deputy ranks...
member of Our Ukraine and Front for Change party
Excluded candidates
All together the Central Election Commission had rejected sixteen applications for candidate registrationThe Central Election Commission refused to register Oleksandr Hordiichuk, Olena Osnach, Oleksandr Luzan, Hanna Kostiv, Oleksandr Vaschenko, Oleksandr Ohorodnikov, Vasyl Handula, Yurii Petlevana, Petro Rekalo, Anatolii Polischuk, Mykhailo Hamaniuk, Oleksandr Vretyk, Artem Polezhaka, Oleh Omelchenko, Natalia Vitrenko, Mykola Melnychenko
Mykola Melnychenko
Mykola Melnychenko was a bodyguard of the former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.Between 1998 and 2000 Melnychenko allegedly recorded numerous conversations that took place in the office of the Ukrainian leader before fleeing abroad with the secretly taped recordings...
, Serhii Martyian and Serhiy Schetinin. The reason stated was due to errors in their documentation, qualifications or failure to pay the required 2.5 million hryvnia nomination deposit.
Nominations closed on November 9, 2009. The Central Election Commission had until November 11 to process nomination documentations and November 13 to finalize the election list.
Electoral campaign
The official Presidential campaign commenced on October 19, 2009, with nominations opening on October 20 through to November 6. The "unofficial" campaign had already started during the summer of 2009 with tents of Front for ChangeYatsenyuk's Front for Change
Front for Change is a Ukrainian public organization and a political party in Ukraine. Both are led by Arseniy Yatseniuk.-History:The political party Front for Change was registered with the Ministry of Justice on June 26, 2007 and entered in the Register of political parties under number 140.In...
distributing campaign material for Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer. Yatsenyuk served in the government of Ukraine as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2006; subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007 and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from 2007 to 2008.-Early life:Arseniy...
Front for Changes and large scale and billboards stating Others make problems. She Works (in the colors and letter type of Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko), and photos of Sergei Tigipko displayed in most Ukrainian towns and TV-adds of Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
and Volodymyr Lytvyn
Volodymyr Lytvyn
Volodymyr Mykhailovych Lytvyn is a Ukrainian politician and the current Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. Having previously served in that position from 2002 until 2006, he was re-elected in December 2008 after his party agreed to join the former coalition of Yulia...
shown on national TV. According to Tymoshenko the "She Works" billboards were paid for by the Fatherland Party, and therefore they were also "social". Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
deputy Andry Paruby officially requested that the prosecutor-general's office investigates the sources of financing of Tymoshenko's advertisements. He suggested that public money might have been used.
Ukraine has proven more than once the degree to which the success of an election campaign depends on the level of professionalism and political spin techniques applied in election campaigns.
The most popular candidates are former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
and leader of the Opposition party
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
and current Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
.
Incumbent President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Viktor Yushchenko's
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
support has slumped from a high of 52% in 2004 to below 3% in Ukrainian public opinion polls. Most political commentators regard him as a heavy underdog who stands little chance of being re-elected to a second term of office. A recent public opinion poll indicated that 83% of Ukrainians will not vote for Yushchenko
On April 5, 2009, Arseniy Yatseniuk, former Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's unicameral parliament. The speaker presides over the parliament and its procedures. They are elected by secret ballot from the parliament's deputy ranks...
announced his intention to run in the election. His popularity has slowly risen to around 12–14% and is now in third place behind Yanukovych and Tymoshenko.
According to Oxford Analytica
Oxford Analytica
Oxford Analytica is an international consulting firm providing strategic analysis of world events. It was founded in 1975 by David Young, an American employee of the National Security Council during the Nixon administration and one of the four in the Watergate scandal.Clients of Oxford Analytica...
the working relationship between President Yushchenko and his Prime Minister Tymoshenko will be further complicated by the search of Yushchenko for partners other than Tymoshenko's Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko who will ensure his re-election. Since Yushchenko dismissed Tymoshenko as Prime Minister on September 8, 2005, the relations between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko, including the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine
Secretariat of the President of Ukraine
The Presidential Administration or unofficially Bankova is an administrative body set up to assist the President of Ukraine, Ukraine's head of state. The main purpose of the Administration is to provide administrative, advisory, analytical, and legal assistance to the President...
, have been hostile. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
of 11 February 2009 Tymoshenko said her recent conflict with the President is a political competition and not ideological antagonisms and she emphasized that the "election struggle for the next presidential elections has virtually begun." During a visit to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
on February 10, 2009, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn
Volodymyr Lytvyn
Volodymyr Mykhailovych Lytvyn is a Ukrainian politician and the current Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. Having previously served in that position from 2002 until 2006, he was re-elected in December 2008 after his party agreed to join the former coalition of Yulia...
seconded that. In late February 2009, President Yushchenko called on all Ukrainian politicians to "stop the presidential election campaign until July 1."
On June 16, 2009, Tymoshenko accused Yuschenko, Yatseniuk and Yanukovych of having the same campaign headquarters financed by (businessman and) RosUkrEnergo
RosUkrEnergo
RosUkrEnergo is a Swiss-registered venture company that transports natural gas from Turkmenistan to East European countries. 50% of the company is owned by Gazprom, through its daughter Swiss-registered Rosgas Holding A.G., and another 50% by Swiss-registered private company Centragas Holding A.G.,...
owner Dmytro Firtash
Dmytro Firtash
Dmytro Firtash is a Ukrainian businessman and billionaire .Firtash first steps in business where in in the food industry in the early 1990s before moving into gas trading....
.
Tymoshenko stated on June 22, 2009: "There is a team work on solving these issues between the President and the Prime Minister. Professional advice and support of the President will help the government during difficult times".
On August 11, 2009 Russian President Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
in an open letter directed at Viktor Yushchenko, raised a number of issues of concern related to the perceived "anti-Russian position of the current Ukrainian authorities". The Russian President's comments were considered by analysts and others including the President of Ukraine as Russia's interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs.
On September 12, 2009, a tour called "With Ukraine in Heart" in support of Yulia Tymoshenko kick-started on Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
's Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the main city squares, it is located on the Khreschatyk Street...
. The most popular singers and bands of Ukraine took part in the tour.
On September 14, 2009, the Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
, the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), the Justice Party and the Union of Leftists
Union of Leftists
Union of Leftists is a Ukrainian political party led by Vasyl Volha.-History:The party was founded on December 8, 2007 and its goals were empower local communities, provide state support for poor regions, stop the privatization of strategic state enterprises and the sale of agricultural land, make...
signed an agreement on creating the bloc of leftists and center-leftists and a unitary participation in the presidential election.
The Pechersky district court in Kiev on September 22, 2009, banned "any unfair advertisement" against Tymoshenko in response to a video (allegedly made by the Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
), which claimed that Tymoshenko does not deliver on her promises. The video reportedly mocked Tymoshenko's main campaign slogan "She Works," which is frequently used in her advertisements.
In October 2009 representatives of the Western Ukrainian intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
called upon the candidates Yuschenko, Yatseniuk, Hrytsenko and "other representatives of national democratic forces" to withdraw in favour of Tymoshenko.
On October 6, 2009, the incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
President Yushchenko warned that there may be attempts to use regional television and radio companies to create advantages for the government
Second Tymoshenko Government
The second Tymoshenko Government was appointed on December 18, 2007 as a coalition between Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko and Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense Bloc , OU-PSD is the party of then-President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, following the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election...
in the election campaign.
October 17, 2009, The Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine has backed a decision to create the bloc of left and center-left political forces and supported the leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine Petro Symonenko as a single candidate for the post of the Ukrainian president from left political forces
October 19 Official start of the Elections campaign 90 day period.
October 20 Candidate nomination registration opens. Oleh Riabokon first candidate to officially nominate.
October 20, Ukrainian Parliament voted to amend Ukraine's Constitution (390 out of 438 in favor) to remove provision related to Parliamentary immunity that prevents a member of parliament from being criminally liable, detained or arrested without the consent of the Verkhovna Rada. An earlier proposal to only remove immunity from the Parliament was defeated. The proposed new provisions also limits presidential immunity. The president can not be detained or arrested without the consent of the parliament however on conviction of an offense the President automatically loses office. The proposed amendments have been forwarded to Ukraine's Constitutional Court
Constitutional Court of Ukraine
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the Constitution of Ukraine and decides whether laws and other legal acts are constitutional....
for review and will need to be reaffirmed by the parliament in February 2010
Political Analyst and senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Andrew Wilson, has cast doubt on Arseny Yatseniuk, currently Ukraine's third most popular candidate, ability to maintain his meteoritic rise following a decline in his ratings dropping from a high of 13% in August to 9% in October. "Yatseniuk must look to plan B"
On November 6 the nominations were closed. The same day a Viktor Yushchenko aide amidst concern over the recent flu outbreak
2009 flu pandemic in Ukraine
The 2009 flu pandemic is a global outbreak of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, first identified in April 2009, termed Pandemic H1N1/09 virus by the World Health Organization and colloquially called swine flu. The outbreak was first observed in Mexico, and quickly spread globally. On...
which claimed 97 lives has proposed the cancellation of the January election until May 2010 which would extend the President's term of office a further six months. The World Health Organisation has stated that they expect a second and third wave of infections to occur in Spring (April to June) bringing into further doubt Yushchenko's proposed cancellation. Under Ukraine's Constitution the elections can be canceled if a State of Emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
is declared. Also on November 6. 2009 the Emergencies Ministry stated it saw no grounds to introduce a state of emergency in Ukraine due to the flu epidemic. On November 9 President Yushchenko said the same.
Serhy Lutsenko, the deputy head of the People's Self-Defense party expressed on November 11, 2009, concern that Viktor Yushchenko will support his past rival, Viktor Yanukovych, in a run-off election between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko.
On December 3, 2009, the Ukrainian National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting complained that certain TV channels did not give equal conditions to all presidential candidates.
On December 11, 2009, the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
EPP called on "Ukraine's democratic forces" to unite around the most democratic candidate who will win through to the presidential run-off. All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland", the Our Ukraine People's Union, and the People's Movement of Ukraine
People's Movement of Ukraine
The People's Movement of Ukraine is a Ukrainian center-right political party...
(Rukh) are the EPP's partners in Ukraine.
On December 11, 2009, candidate Viktor Yanukovych stated that his Party of Regions possesses information that "government representatives are currently "motivating" the chairmen of election commissions and seeking options for victory in every possible way" and called for his supporters go to the Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the main city squares, it is located on the Khreschatyk Street...
in case of election fraud.
Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko proposes a referendum on the format of Constitutional reform - Parliamentary versus Presidential system of governance
First round ballot
The first round ballot was held on January 17 and was internationally widely recognized as meeting democratic standards.As no single candidate had received 50% or more votes in the first round ballot the two highest polling candidates, Viktor Yanukovych (35.32%) and Yulia Tymoshenko (25.05%) progressed to the second final run-off ballot which was held on February 7, 2010.
Ukraine's incumbent president, Viktor Yushchenko, with 5.45% support, came in fifth place behind Serhiy Tihipko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk who had each respectively received 13.05% and 6.69% of the vote.
Peter Simonenko, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Oleh Tyahnybok and Anatoliy Hrytsenko all scored between 4 and 1% of the votes. The remaining nine candidates for the presidency gained less than 1% of the votes.
Second round ballot
The second round of voting between Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko took place on February 7, 2010.Exit poll
Exit poll
An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks whom the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks whom the voter actually voted for. A similar poll conducted before actual...
s indicated that Viktor Yanukovych has been elected Ukraine's next president. The National Election Poll placed Yanukovych to finish first in Sunday's runoff ballot, securing 48.7 percent of the vote with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on 45.5 percent.
With 100% of the ballots counted, the tally is 12,481,268 votes for Yanukovich (48.95%) and 11,593,340 votes for Tymoshenko (45.47%), giving Yanukovich a lead of 3.48%. There were 1.19% invalid votes and 4.36% of voters chose to vote "Against all" (candidates). In Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, the number of voter choosing "Against all" was close to 8%.
The Ukrainian Central Election Commission and international observers found no evidence of significant electoral fraud and said that the voting and counting was fair. Tymoshenko's party said that it would challenge the result in 1,000 of the country's 30,000 ballot boxes (as many as 900,000 ballots – enough to make a difference in the final outcome), claiming that the counting process was unfair. Violations cited by Tymoshenko’s camp included home voting and the busing of voters to polling stations, which was explicitly permitted by law.
Yanukovich's party
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
activists rallied outside the buildings of the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine and the Kiev Administrative Court of Appeals the days after the second round of the election.
A few days after the election, Yanukovich received congratulations from the leaders of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, NATO and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Still, Tymoshenko refused to concede defeat, and Tymoshenko's party promised to challenge the result. On February 17, 2010 the Administrative Court of Ukraine, suspended the results of the election on Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal. The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine
Central Election Commission of Ukraine
The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ; sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine) is a permanent and independent collegiate body of the Ukrainian government.- Mission and Authority :...
ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won the election. Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on February 20, 2010 after the Higher Administrative Court in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
rejected her petition to scrutinize documents from election districts in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and also to question election and law-enforcement officials. The same day (February 20) Tymoshenko announced that she will not challenge the results of the second round of the presidential election in the Supreme Court of Ukraine
Supreme Court of Ukraine
The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine.The Court derives its authority from the Constitution of Ukraine, but much of its structure is outlined in legislation...
since she believed there were no legal provisions for such an appeal, although Tymoshenko also stated "an honest court will assess that Yanukovych wasn’t elected President of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged".
Voting analysis showed that during the election creases started to emerge across the traditional geographical voters patterns. Tymoshenko made inroads in Yanukovych’s traditional east
East Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine is a geographical term and generally includes territories of Ukraine east of Dnieper river, particularly Sloboda Ukraine, Donets basin, Left-bank Ukraine, the continental part of a historical land of Taurida.-See also:*Novorossiya...
and south Ukraine base of support, whereas Yanukovych did the same in Tymoshenko’s traditional west and central Ukraine base of support. More women voted for Yanukovych than for Tymoshenko.
Exit Polls
All exit pollExit poll
An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks whom the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks whom the voter actually voted for. A similar poll conducted before actual...
s conducted during the final round of voting reported a win for Viktor Yanukovych over Yulia Tymoshenko.
| Polling Agency | Viktor Yanukovych | Yulia Tymoshenko |
|---|---|---|
| National Exit Poll | 48.7 | 45.5 |
| TRK Ukraina | 48.6 | 45.7 |
| ICTV | 49.8 | 45.2 |
| SOCIS | 49.6 | 44.5 |
| FOM Center for Social and Marketing Research | 49.7 | 44.6 |
| Research & Branding group | 50.2 | 44.0 |
| Interfax-Ukraine | 51.0 | 41.0 |
Issues
The list of major issues raised in the campaign to date include- The economy
- Health
- Housing
- Ukraine's membership of NATO and CSTO
- European Integration
- Ukraine-Russia relations
- Constitutional Reform
- Euro 2012 Football Tournament
- The status of the Russian languageRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
According to the Director of the Penta Center for Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko there were only small differences in the election programs of the various candidates.
Fraud suspicions and accusations
According to all international organizations observing the election allegations of electoral fraud in relation to the first round ballot had been unfounded, they declared that the conduct of the elections was within internationally recognized democratic standards and a testament to the will of the people of Ukraine.A December 2009 poll found that 82 percent of Ukrainians expect vote rigging, these fears were shared by some election observers, both international and domestic. The later also fearing the lack of an independent exit poll; which they see as essential to deterring vote fraud.
Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's Prime-minister and one of the main candidates seeking election in January's poll has stated that "We will not challenge any election returns to avoid tremors, which may bring about instability in this country. If the people elect their president, and this is not Yulia Tymoshenko, I will take this choice easy, for sure"
Former President Leonid Kuchma has also excluded the possibility of a third round ballot. According to Kuchma, "during the election campaign in 2004 the decision about holding the third round was political and it will not be repeated. The 2004 decision was an exclusion from a rule".
Viktor Baloha, former presidential secretary under Viktor Yushchenko stated "Alarming declarations about the likely vote rigging directly point to organizational weaknesses of some candidates as the law allows for reliable barriers against any electoral fraud. For instance, any presidential candidate can send his two representatives to sit on local and regional electoral commissions, appoint observers to keep an eye on voting and counting of ballots. Proxies of candidates who have wide authority can also supervise the course of the voting". "There are more than enough supervisory tools. Other effective barriers to electoral fraud are the Central Election Commission [whose members are appointed by major parliamentary parties on a quota principle] and numerous international observers. Mass media and NGOs, notably, the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, will also be effective in helping to curb fraud. Of great importance for establishing the final tally are also exit polls run by respected polling companies.they will all be used during the campaign." adding that "All the more so that there are 18 presidential candidates, some having considerable weight. That is why any declarations about the likely fraud are just attempts to justify a defeat of those who make them. Note that those candidates who are selling themselves as strong-willed and tough are most given to such declarations. In fact, such declarations expose them as would-be losers and outsiders"
Candidates Victor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
both accused the other of intending to use vote rigging to win the election during the election campaign. Early January 2010 Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko warned that there is a real threat of "administrative pressure
Administrative resource
Administrative resource is the ability of political candidates to use their official positions or connections to government institutions to influence the outcome of elections....
" being applied during the counting of votes at the presidential election. Viktor Yushchenko without providing any details has alleged that the highest threat of falsification in the first round will be applied by Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc; "because candidate Viktor Yanukovych will enter the second round in any case".
Allegations have been made that Viktor Yushchenko has made a deal with Viktor Yanukovych in order to secure a number of political positions for members of his team in exchange for supporting Viktor Yanukovych's campaign Concern has been expressed that Viktor Yushchenko had tried to prevent news of the deal from being published by declaring it a State Secret.
A joint poll conducted by Democratic Initiatives and Ukrainian Sociology Service of January 2010 showed that less than 5% of the polled believed that the presidential election would be fair with 41.4% respondents that believed that the election results could be manipulated and 15.7% being certain that the entire vote would be rigged. According to the same poll 5.8% of those polled stated they were ready to sell their votes if the sum suited them and 1.9% of the respondents were ready to sell their votes for any presidential candidates and for any funds.
A voter casting more than one ballot, or selling her/his vote, could face as much as two years jail time.
Opinion polls
January 2, 2010, was the beginning of the 15 day media blackout on reporting of election polls before the January 17 first round election.A poll released December 15, 2009, by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1987. This Washington, D. C.-based development organization provides assistance and support for elections in new and emerging democracies...
has indicated that Viktor Yanukovych (31%) as the most likely to win the Presidential election in a contest with Yulia Tymoshenko (19%). All other candidates were below 5% with Victor Yushchenko on 3.5% with a negativity rating of 83%. The survey also indicated that Ukrainians are pessimistic about the socio-political situation in the country. Seventy-four percent believe Ukraine is on a path toward instability and more than nine in ten Ukrainians are dissatisfied with the economic (96%) and political situation (92%) in the country.
According to other recent opinion polls, the Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
candidate Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
(25.0% to 33.3%) was placed first among viable presidential candidates, with Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Ukraine
The Prime Minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government....
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
(15.5% to 18.4%) coming in second, and Front for Change
Yatsenyuk's Front for Change
Front for Change is a Ukrainian public organization and a political party in Ukraine. Both are led by Arseniy Yatseniuk.-History:The political party Front for Change was registered with the Ministry of Justice on June 26, 2007 and entered in the Register of political parties under number 140.In...
candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer. Yatsenyuk served in the government of Ukraine as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2006; subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007 and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from 2007 to 2008.-Early life:Arseniy...
(6.7% to 14.5%) in third place. Incumbent President, Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
(2.0% to 3.8%) following his decline in popularity with the Ukrainian public comes in at a distant sixth place behind leader of the Communist Party
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
Petro Symonenko
Petro Symonenko
Petro Mykolayovych Symonenko is a Ukrainian politician and the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Symonenko was the Communist Party's candidate in both the 1999 and 2004 presidential elections. During the Ukrainian presidential election, 2010 he was the candidate of the Election...
(3.4% to 4.5%) and Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn
Volodymyr Lytvyn
Volodymyr Mykhailovych Lytvyn is a Ukrainian politician and the current Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. Having previously served in that position from 2002 until 2006, he was re-elected in December 2008 after his party agreed to join the former coalition of Yulia...
(1.4% to 5.8%).
A survey conducted by U.S.-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (November 21 to 29) lists Viktor Yushchenko as the highest negativity rating (83%) and Viktor Yanukovych with the most positive rating (42%)
An opinion poll conducted by FOM-Ukraine
FOM-Ukraine
The FOM-Ukraine is political sociology company in Ukraine. It is joint venture of FOM company favoring Viktor Yanukovych were the only allowed to be publicized on TV during Ukrainian presidential election in 2004. All others polling was censored....
in September/October 2009 expected the turnout to be at least 85.1%. The poll carried out by the Oleksandr Yaremenko Institute for Social Research in December 2009 predicted (at least) a 70% turnout.
Media were prohibited by Ukrainian law from reporting the results of public opinion polls for the election (starting) from January 2 until election day on January 17, 2009.
International observers
The Ukrainian Foreign MinistryMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is the Ukrainian government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Ukraine.-Historical overlook:...
expected (in November 2009) that some 600 international observers will be monitoring the elections. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will send around 60 long-term and 600 short-term observers to Ukraine to monitor the presidential elections, Ukraine had submitted an invitation to the OSCE to monitor the elections.
This electoral observation mission is headed by Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
politician João Soares, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The OSCE/ODIHR long term observation mission was officially opened on November 26, 2009. On January 12, 2009, the OSCE where not satisfied with the level of funding for salaries and transport services.
The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
member-states will send over 700 observers to monitor the elections. The Canada Ukraine Foundation (a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
NGO) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
(PACE) will also send observers. The PACE delegation is led by Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
politician Matyas Eorsi
Mátyás Eörsi
Mátyás Eörsi MP, is a Hungarian politician who was the leader of the liberal ALDE-PACE Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe . He became a member of the PACE in 1994...
. Late November the PACE delegation was sceptical the elections would meet the organization's standards. On December 8, 2009 Renate Wohlwend, co-rapporteur of PACE stated that PACE might continue to monitor Ukrainian politics after the country's presidential election. Wohlwend had also called on the Ukrainian parliament to amend a law on the presidential elections as soon as possible. Wohlwend expressed concern over the inclusion of a provision in Ukraine's electoral legislation giving the election commission the right to amend the electoral rolls on the day of the ballot. She expressed concern this could allow the rigging of the election results
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
.
The Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
European Center of Geopolitical Analysis did send 20 observers to monitor signs of xenophobia
Racism and discrimination in Ukraine
Ukraine is a multi-ethnic and multicultural nation where racism and ethnic discrimination are arguably largely a fringe issue. However, there have been recorded incidents of violence where the victim's race is widely thought to have played a role. Those incidents receive an extensive media coverage...
during the presidential election campaign.
On December 9, 2009, candidate Victor Yanukovych at a meeting with an OSCE election observation mission stated that he is afraid Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
might rig the presidential election.
A total of 450 official observers from the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) will monitor the elections.
Paweł Kowal lead the delegation of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
's observers; this delegation included ten people, who cooperated closely with the delegations of observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
NATO Parliamentary Assembly
Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Karl A...
, and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe dealing with the "human dimension" of security. The office, originally named Office for Free Elections, was created in 1990 by the Charter of Paris and...
(ODIHR).
A total of 3,149 international observers did monitor the January 17 presidential election in Ukraine.
On January 18, 2010, the OSCE announced it would send same number of observers to monitor Ukraine's second round of the election as in the first round. At the same time it called for bringing Ukraine's election laws in line with international norms but nevertheless it endorsed the first round of the Ukrainian presidential poll, saying it was of "high quality" and demonstrated "significant progress".
After the second round of the election international observers and the OSCE called the election transparent and honest.
According to Serhiy Paskhalov, the head of presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko's main campaign office in Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
, international observers were physically unable to register mass irregularities in the second round of the presidential election. According to Paskhalov six foreign observers had monitored the run-off presidential election at 469 polling stations in six electoral districts in Dnipropetrovsk region.
Result
Nominations by parties and candidates to run in the election closed on November 6, 2009. Eighteen candidates in all have been nominated. The Central Election Committee had until November 11, 2009, to process documentation and finalize the election list.The first round of the election was held on January 17, 2010. Voter turnout was approximately 67 percent, compared to 75 percent at the 2004 presidential election
Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
The Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 was held on October 31, November 21 and December 26, 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union...
. Incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...
was defeated having received only 5.45% of the vote. Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002...
and Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko , née Grigyan , born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful...
finished first and second in the first round and faced each other in the second round ballot held on February 7. Voter turnout in the second round was approximately 69%. On February 14, with all second round votes counted, Yanukovich was officially declared a winner of the election with 48.95%, compared to Tymoshenko's 45.47%.
The election has been widely recognized and endorsed as being fair and an accurate reflection of voters' intentions by all international agencies observing the election including the OSCE and PACE
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
.
Electoral maps
Note: The above maps are based on the percentage of the national vote and as such is an accurate representation of the results of the election as each region is shown in relation to the overall result.
Note: The above maps based on the percentage of the regional vote distorts the representation of the results of the election as each region does not contain an equal number of constituents. Ukraine's Presidential election is a national ballot not regional..