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On Sunday, October 28, 2012, a Canadian delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), led by Mr. James Bezan, M.P., and composed of the Honourable Senator Michel Rivard, the Honourable Senator Larry Campbell, Mr. Ed Komarnicki, M.P., Mr. Wladyslaw Lizon, M.P., Mr. Corneliu Chisu, M.P., Mr. Ted Opitz, M.P., Ms. Peggy Nash, M.P., Ms. Linda Duncan, M.P., Ms. Ève Péclet, M.P., the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, M.P. and the Honourable Judy Sgro, M.P., participated in an election observation mission that monitored the parliamentary elections held in Ukraine. The delegation was accompanied by Andrew Lauzon, Association Secretary. A. The Election Observation Mission in Ukraine A key element of the OSCE’s mandate is the promotion of democratic elections. To this end, the Canadian delegation to OSCE PA has participated in numerous international election observation missions. As a community of countries committed to democracy, the OSCE has placed great emphasis on promoting democratic elections as a key pillar of stability. All OSCE participating States have committed themselves to invite international observers to their elections, in recognition that election observation can play an important role in enhancing confidence in the electoral process. Deploying election observers offers demonstrable support to a democratic process and can assist OSCE participating States in their objective to conduct genuine elections in line with OSCE commitments. The OSCE election observation mission in Ukraine was a common endeavour, involving the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE PA, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the European Parliament (EP) and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA). The mission was deployed at the invitation of the Government of Ukraine, pursuant to commitments made by all OSCE participating states. On election-day, 802 observers from 42 countries were deployed, including 623 long-term and short-term observers deployed by the OSCE/ODIHR, as well as 94 parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA, 41 from the PACE, 25 from the EP and 19 from the NATO PA. Voting was observed in 2,521 polling stations across the country. Counting was observed in 249 polling stations. The tabulation process was observed in 126 District Election Commissions. B. Activities of the Canadian Delegation Canadian delegates attended briefing sessions provided by the OSCE for parliamentarians on Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27, 2012, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Over the course of the two days, delegates were provided with an overview of the political background to the elections. They were also briefed on the administration of the elections, as well as the process for election-day reporting and statistical analysis. The delegates heard presentations from domestic observer organisations, non-governmental organizations and media representatives. Furthermore, they met with representatives from the political parties and blocs. On Friday, October 26, the delegation attended a situational briefing provided by Troy Lulashnyk, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine. Also in attendance at the briefing were Senator Raynell Andreychuk, Head of Mission for Mission Canada – Ukraine Elections 2012, and Paul Grod, Head of Mission for the Ukrainian World Congress Election Observation Mission. Mr. Bezan and Mr. Lizon were appointed as regional coordinators of OSCE PA teams being deployed on election day. Mr. Bezan was the regional coordinator for the Chernivtsi region and Mr. Lizon was the regional coordinator for the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Furthermore, Mr. Bezan was appointed as a member of the Advisory Group to Ms. Walburga Habsburg Douglas, the Special Co-ordinator who led the OSCE short-term election observation mission and the Head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation. He attended a meeting of the Advisory Group on Friday, October 26. On Sunday, October 28, the delegates were deployed across Ukraine to observe the elections. Mr. Bezan and Ms. Péclet were deployed to the Chernivtsi region. Mr. Komarnicki and Mr. Lizon were deployed to the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Mr. Chisu, Mr. Opitz and Ms. Duncan were deployed to the Lviv region. Senator Rivard was deployed to the Odessa region. Senator Campbell, Ms. Nash, Mr. MacAulay and Ms. Sgro were deployed to the Kyiv region. On election-day, the delegates observed several aspects of the election process, including: · The opening of a polling station in the morning; · the voting process in a number of polling stations throughout election day; · the closing of a polling station and the vote count in that polling station; · the transfer of election material to the District Election Commission (DEC) and handover at the DEC; · the processing of election materials and the tabulation of results at the DEC, including on Monday, October 29, where necessary. The delegates reported regularly on their observations throughout the day by completing observation report forms at each polling station visited and submitting them to their assigned long-term observers. On the morning of Monday, October 29, delegates who had been deployed in the Kyiv region attended the OSCE debriefing. Ms. Habsburg Douglas presented a summary of the statistical information derived from the submitted observation report forms. The parliamentarians present also discussed their observations on election-day and made recommendations concerning the content of the “Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions”. In the evening, the Canadian delegation hosted a debriefing with Ambassador Lulashnyk. It was also attended by Senator Andreychuk, Ann Szyptur, Mission Canada – Ukraine Elections 2012 Long-Term Observer Coordinator, and Taras Zalusky, Mission Canada – Ukraine Elections 2012 Chief of Staff. C. Preliminary Findings and Conclusions The OSCE PA was disappointed to report that these elections appear to represent a reversal of Ukraine’s democratic progress. On the positive side, election-day was calm and peaceful overall and voter turnout was healthy, at 58%. A competitive and visible campaign was fought by distinct parties representing a range of political perspectives and the people of Ukraine were engaged in the election process. Furthermore, candidate registration was inclusive, with two notable exceptions, representing a wide variety of political views. Two prominent opposition political figures, Ms. Yulia Tymoshenko and Mr. Yuriy Lutsenko, remained imprisoned during the election period, following trials that were highly criticized as unfair by the OSCE PA. Neither Ms. Tymoshenko nor Mr. Lutsenko was permitted to register as a candidate for the election. The influence of economically powerful groups negatively affected the overall fairness of the campaign. For example, political parties had unequal access to private media coverage and campaign financing lacked transparency. Media coverage on state-run television was also notably biased in favour of the ruling party. Moreover, tabulation was problematic, as it lacked transparency. The tabulation process was assessed negatively by fully one-third of international observers. Overall, the transparency of the tabulation of results was limited and a number of international observers reported being restricted in their observation of the process. On the whole, the engagement of Ukrainians in the election showed that support for democracy in the country is strong. Unfortunately, the detention of prominent opposition political figures, the absence of a level playing field for opposition candidates during the campaign period, and a lack of transparency in the tabulation of election results cast a shadow over the process. The full preliminary report, prepared jointly by the OSCE PA, ODIHR, PACE, EP and NATO PA missions, is available in English at the following site: http://www.osce.org/odihr/96675.
Respectfully submitted,
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