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National Democratic Institute 2030 M Street, NW, Fifth Floor Washington DC 20036 Tel: 202.728.5500 Fax: 202.728.5520 www.ndi.org |
December 27, 2004
aduncan@ndi.org
ELECTION PROMISES TO CROSS DEMOCRATIC THRESHOLD, OPENING A NEW ERA IN THE COUNTRY'S POLITICAL HISTORY, SAYS NDI
As the election process is completed and if the will of the people expressed at the ballot box is honored, Ukraine will have taken its place in the community of democracies.
As the election process is completed and if the will of the people expressed at the ballot box is honored, Ukraine will have taken its place in the community of democracies.
Kyiv, Ukraine—An international delegation organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to Ukraine's December 26 repeat presidential run-off election today concluded that: "The election was peaceful across the country and orderly in most places. Though the process was not without problems, no systematic or large-scale fraud or irregularities have emerged to date that would bring its credibility into question."
The delegation, totaling 35 observers from seven countries in Europe and North America, visited Ukraine from December 22-28. It was led by: Abner Mikva, former member of the United States Congress, White House Counsel and Chief Judge of a U.S. Court of Appeal; Bronislaw Geremek, former Foreign Minister of Poland; and Patrick Merloe, NDI Senior Associate and Director of Electoral Programs. The delegation also included members of parliament, other current and former legislators, former ambassadors, elections and human rights experts, civic leaders and regional specialists.
The delegation emphasized that at this point NDI does not intend to render a conclusive assessment of the process, given that the tabulation of results is not complete and that any electoral challenges and complaints will require monitoring through their completion.
The delegation said: "A number of problems were noted by NDI observers, but no indication of major or systemic fraud or irregularities that could affect the core elements of electoral integrity were detected. The Central Election Commission (CEC) has operated transparently. Overall, the thousands of election officials appointed by both candidates demonstrated their capacity to work together and promote integrity in the electoral process."
The delegation concluded, "There are crucial challenges facing Ukraine's new president, its other political leaders and Ukrainian civil society. The extraordinary awakening and actions by Ukrainian citizens to defend their fundamental political rights will require leaders to act quickly to consolidate this expression of political will into constructive engagement of citizens in governmental and public affairs."
The full text of the delegation's statement can be found on the NDI website at www.ndi.org