The vote - promoted by forces which
led the coup against President Viktor Yanukovych in
February, in an effort to gain legitimacy – was held
throughout the country, with the exception of the
People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, which
organized their own elections earlier this month,
and where the Kiev army is conducting a military
offensive.
Neighboring Russia saluted the
holding of elections, regardless of their
questionable legitimacy, in hopes of re-opening a
dialogue to resolve the regional crisis.
President Petro Poroshenko’s bloc,
which won a vote in May, promising closer ties with
Europe and a more efficient economy, received the
most support and should hold about 23% of the
legislature’s seats, according to exit polls
reported on Ukrainian television and cited by EFE.
Coming in second was the Popular
Front led by Minister Arseni Yatseniuk, with 21% of
the vote, considered a victory for the country’s
most pro-UE tendency.
Other parties which gained
representation in the legislature include the United
Self-Help group - led by the mayor of Lviv - with
13.2%, and the Opposition Bloc, created by members
of regional parties associated with former President
Yanukovich, with 7.6%. Oleg Liashko’s Radical Party
did not win the number of votes predicted, settling
for 6.4%.
The ultra nationalist Svoboda
(Liberty) party garnered 6.3% of the vote and the
far right-wing Batkivschina (Homeland) group, led by
former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, a mere 5.6%,
They will be represented in the Rada, while the
Communist Party, which faced brutal attacks and
accusations of treason, failed to reach the minimum
5% required for a seat.
Polls indicated that pro-European
parties will hold a legislative majority, with at
least 300 of the 450 seats, allowing Poroshenko to
form a coalition to support structural reforms and
apply for UE membership in 2020.
Not to be overlooked is the fact
that voter participation barely surpassed 50%, and
the Ministry of Interior received some 300 reports
of irregularities at voting stations.
No voting took place in the People’s
Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, where the
Ukrainian right wing government has waged a military
offensive, costing the lives of 3,800 civilians and
9,000 injuries, according to a UN report released
October 15.
Russia recognized the election
results, despite their limitations, in an effort to
demonstrate its willingness to resolve the ongoing
crisis in this neighboring country.
"We recognized the elections, given
that for us it is very important that authorities
finally emerge in Ukraine, authorities who are not
most interested in fighting others, or dragging
Ukraine to the West or the East, but rather focusing
on the real problems facing the nation," Foreign
Minister Serguei Lavrov commented in remarks to the
international press.
Taking a conciliatory tone, Lavrov
also said he was "convinced" that Russia would find
the new government and Rada open to dialogue, adding
that he expects to meet with the new Ukrainian
foreign minister, as soon as one is appointed.
"After all, we have never suspended
contact. I have even held meetings with those who
were not elected and took power via a coup d’etat,"
he reported.
Moscow’s willingness to open
discussions with the new representatives in Kiev
reflects a desire to return to the September 5 Minsk
ceasefire agreement, and the Peace Memorandum signed
on the 19th of that month, which called for the
establishment of a demilitarized zone to separate
the Ukrainian Army and popular militias in
independent areas.
Despite these diplomatic gestures,
Russia is aware that the increase of nationalists
and radicals in the Rada will aggravate tensions in
a splintered Ukraine, which could lead to continuing
bloodshed, in a futile attempt to resolve the
country’s problems through force. (Granma
International news staff)
