In
its twenty-one years of independence, Ukraine has successfully modernized and
reformed itself. Just a few years ago, the citizenry of Ukraine elected a new
president, and the election was described as “the country’s freest and fairest
national election.” Yet, Ukraine’s upcoming election may not share these same elements
of freedom and fairness. With this upcoming election, citizens hold high
expectations of the people in power. However, the Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE) has predicted a less than favorable
outcome from recent trends including reports of administrative resources being
used to favor ruling party candidates, media complications, a lack of
representation for some political parties on district and precinct election
commissions, the Central Election Commission’s closed pre-session meetings and
the distribution of material or financial benefits to voters. Perhaps most
significant is the convictions of opposition leaders in trials under par of
international standards. Their convictions prevent them from the elections.
To
ensure that the election is free and fair, the United States and the European
Union are supporting voters with education, trying to train election officials
and protecting both the rights of the candidates and voters. However, it’s not
their election; this election belongs to Ukraine. The government’s officials
and leaders currently in power will ultimately determine the freedom and
fairness of the election. The United States and the European Union can only
impose their values of freedom and fairness to a certain extent at which they
can’t go beyond. It’s also up to the citizens of Ukraine to join together and
demand that the election be fair and free.
"Ukraine's Troubling Trends"
No comments:
Post a Comment