Concern for election’s legitimacy as Ukraine closes foreign polling stations

ASIDE from the millions of residents from war-torn Donbas, the roughly 3 million Ukrainians who live in Russia and account for the majority of Ukrainian expatriates will be unable to vote in the coming presidential election since the Central Election Commission has closed all polling places in its neighbour to the east.

According to many Russian and Ukrainian politicians, the commission’s decision violates the Ukrainian constitution and calls into question the legitimacy of the election, which will held on March31.

Since the election will not be held on the territory of Donbas as it is not under Kiev’s control, between 7 million and 10million people will be unable to vote. This figure represents from one-sixth to a quarter of the population of the country. At the same time, according to the legislation, the presidential election in Ukraine is general, and all citizens of the country who have turned 18 years old have the right to vote.

Although Russia is one of the leading countries where Ukrainians go to earn money, Ukraine’s commission has permanently closed all five foreign polling stations. This happened on December 31 last year, on the first day of the election campaign. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said at the time that it was “dangerous” for the citizens of the country to vote in Russia, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian media, about 3million Ukrainian citizens are in Russia. And Klimkin has previously said that every 12th Ukrainian lived on Russian territory.

Ukrainian citizens living in Russia can vote in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Finland or in their homeland.

“Ukrainian citizens who are temporarily in Russia and have a Ukrainian internal passport are advised to vote at their place of registration in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

Russian permanent representative to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Alexander Lukashevich said: “The question of legitimacy arises when a huge part of the Ukrainian population is not able to take part in an open vote.”

According to experts, the closure of polling stations in Russia and the refusal to hold elections in Donbas will only benefit incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who also intends to run for president. |