UKRAINE - A CHANGED COUNTRY: REFLECTIONS OF AN ELECTION OBSERVER
Recently I was in Ukraine for the early parliamentary elections. This was my fourth time participating as a member of a Canadian election observation mission, and it many ways it was not unlike my previous three experiences - except for a few stark differences.
My first mission was in October 2012 for the regularly scheduled parliamentary elections. Since then I had returned for the December 2013 parliamentary repeat elections in 5 districts (single-mandate constituencies where it was deemed impossible to determine the winners for various reasons such as mass falsifications) as well as the early presidential elections in May 2014.
Each of the four times that I had been in Ukraine as an election observer I witnessed significant changes, and in many ways each visit symbolized Ukraine’s transformation over the past year.
In 2012 it had been business as usual under the Yanukovych regime. These elections witnessed a backsliding in democracy, as was noted in the Canadian mission’s final report. Overall the atmosphere surrounding the elections was tense: former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuri Lutsenko were serving politically-motivated jail time, media freedom was on the decline, and numerous violations of Ukrainian electoral law were recorded, including vote-buying, widespread abuse of administrative resources, and threats (and in some instances, violence) against candidates and party workers. It seemed as if things would not be changing in the near future.
When I arrived in Kyiv in December, things were markedly different. By then the Euromaidan movement was in full swing, fueled by the first Berkut beatings of the students on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Something had changed; the air was different, the people more determined. But it could not be said that this revolutionary fervor had uniformly caught on throughout the country. In the Mykolaiv oblast, where I was deployed, there was much skepticism, if not outright hostility, towards the events in Kyiv. “They just wanted to put up a Christmas tree,” I was told by one election commission member, “why are they [those on Maidan] causing all of this trouble?”
By May everything had changed. Driving in from Boryspil airport one could not help but notice the predominance of blue and yellow everywhere one looked. Ukrainian flags adorned countless windows, and the revolutionary call “Slava Ukraini! Heroyam Slava!” (Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!) was inscribed along walls in and around Kyiv, and indeed throughout much of the country. While Ukraine gained its state sovereignty in 1991, it had become obvious that its national rebirth was in 2014. As future President Petro Poroshenko would repeatedly state, “I have never seen [Ukraine] so united. I have never seen our country so Ukrainian.”
Like so many others, I wish the story ended here. But as has been the case many times before in Ukraine’s history, this victory was marked with tragedy and continuing struggle. That evening I took a walk through Maidan and up along Institutska Street, the sight of the infamous sniper shootings back in February. Although Berkut troops no longer lined the streets leading to Maidan, there was an overpowering sense of reverence and quiet reflection in what was once a lively square. Impromptu memorials to the Heavenly Hundred (Nebesna Sotnya) had popped up everywhere, often with pictures of those killed adorned with flowers, rosaries, candles, and stuffed animals. In the centre stood a large poster with names and pictures of those killed during the Euromaidan Revolution. But hundreds of names were absent, names of those who were kidnapped, beaten, tortured, killed, and whose final resting place remains unknown.
Perhaps most haunting was my walk along Institutska Street, which had been transformed into something like a real-life museum, a frozen snapshot in time of the unimaginable horrors that had transpired there only a few short months ago. Street lamp posts were riddled with bullet holes. Plaques attached to trees and posts, where victims had attempted to seek out protection from sniper fire, marked where countless everyday Ukrainians had been killed. As I slowly walked by these sites my mind’s eye replayed the violent, tragic scenes I had watched play out on my computer screen. It was a surreal experience, to say the least.
That May I was deployed to Sumy, an oblast in the north-east of the country, bordering Russia. On our drive from Kyiv to Sumy we passed a few Ukrainian checkpoints – the first signs I had seen of the “Anti-Terrorist Operation” taking place in Ukraine’s eastern territories. As our van approached one of the checkpoints I noticed that a soldier had a rifle trained on us the entire time. It was the first time in my life that I had experienced something like that, but (perhaps rather oddly) I was not at all afraid.
As was generally the case in the rest of the country (minus annexed Crimea and occupied parts of Luhansk and Donetsk where elections were not able to take place), in Sumy the elections went smoothly. Based on my previous experiences, they were the best elections I had witnessed in Ukraine, and in my opinion were a testament to the changes the country had undergone in a mere six months. There was an undeniable quiet determination among the people, election officials and voters alike. In contrast to the 2012 parliamentary elections, it seemed as if party politics had taken a backseat, replaced by an awareness of the importance of getting a legitimate president in power, especially given Russia’s continuing interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Notably, this election also saw scores of people across Ukraine don their traditional embroidered shirts – vyshyvanky – in honour of the important day. Yet another sign of a bourgeoning Ukrainian national rebirth.
A few weeks ago Ukraine’s early parliamentary elections took place against the backdrop of war in the country’s east. The term “Anti-Terrorist Operation” was noticeably increasingly replaced by the term “war”: war in the east, war with Russia, war against the separatists. Anti-Russian sentiment was at an all time high in the country, juxtaposed with an even more obvious outpouring of support for Ukraine. In Zaporizhia, the oblast to which I was deployed, every other car (if not the majority of cars) sported a Ukrainian flag, buildings had blue and yellow stripes painted on their sides, and Ukrainian flags were hung from balconies, draped across storefront windows, and placed in restaurant entranceways. Even the giant Lenin statue was now dressed in a vyshyvka.
Being in an oblast bordering Donetsk, the reality of war just a few hours away was not lost on us. Driving along the city’s roads one could read billboards saying “They should return ALIVE – and victorious! Help the Ukrainian Army.” Late one evening, as we were driving back to the hotel after a long two days of observing vote count tabulations, our driver pointed out to us an oncoming convoy, “Look,” he said, “guys heading towards the front.” And indeed, led by a police escort, a line of three to four military trucks drove past us. I couldn’t help but wonder who exactly was in those trucks – where were they from, what were they doing before the war, where were they heading? Needless to say, the answers to my questions disappeared with the trucks as they drove off into the night.
Despite the war occurring in Ukraine’s eastern territories and the growing unrest amongst the populace as a result of the government’s perceived inaction and ineffectiveness with issues such as the crisis in the east and rampant corruption, the elections were deemed to be a genuine reflection of the will of the people. The results clearly demonstrated Ukrainians’ desire to continue their path towards European integration, as the top three winning parties (two of which are new) all present a pro-European orientation and reformist attitudes as staples in their policies.
Significantly, these elections saw the ouster of the Communist Party, which failed to pass the 5 percent threshold for inclusion in parliament. This means that for the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 there will be no Communists in Ukrainian government. The meaningfulness of this new reality was not lost on Ukrainians, and President Poroshenko echoed the sentiments (and relief?) of many when he stated, “The Communist Party belongs in the past by decision of the Ukrainian people.”
The 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary elections brought about several notable changes. In addition to the expulsion of the Communist Party, several new parties and faces, many of which were leaders in the Euromaidan “Revolution of Dignity,” were introduced into Ukraine’s highest legislative body. It would be an understatement to say that they have their work cut out for them: the challenges facing Ukraine today are immense by any standards. Much will depend on the ability of the parties to work together and not be mired by problems which regularly plagued Ukraine’s previous post-independence governments.
As a Canadian election observer I am very fortunate and thankful to have been witness to such historic moments in Ukraine’s recent history. Election observation gives one a unique glimpse into the lives of Ukrainians from all walks of life, and through your interaction with drivers, translators, numerous election officials, and countless other “everyday” Ukrainians, one obtains an intimate understanding of their grievances, hopes, and expectations for the future. You learn about their difficult histories, but also share in their simple pleasures, as they often invite you to stay “just 5 minutes longer” to chat with you and exchange stories of life back home.
I have always been of the opinion that Canadian observation missions do much more than help monitor elections. They are crucial exercises in relationship building, on the most basic of levels, which in turn help to foster better understanding and relations between our two countries, which have been bound by human ties for well over a century now.
Election after election, one sees how hard working, genuine, diligent, and caring the Ukrainian people are. At the grassroots level, it is obvious that they want to live in a real democracy, free of the corruption and political intrigue that has thus far figured prominently in Ukrainian politics. In the opinion of this observer, Ukrainians are on the right path towards making this dream a reality, and the most recent elections have underscored this point. It would be unrealistic to think that the road ahead will be an easy one, but judging by what Ukrainians have managed to accomplish in the time span of just one year, it is fair to say that they are capable of continuing to push themselves and their government towards the cherished ideals of independence, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
Recently I was in Ukraine for the early parliamentary elections. This was my fourth time participating as a member of a Canadian election observation mission, and it many ways it was not unlike my previous three experiences - except for a few stark differences.
When I arrived in Kyiv in December, things were markedly different. By then the Euromaidan movement was in full swing, fueled by the first Berkut beatings of the students on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Something had changed; the air was different, the people more determined. But it could not be said that this revolutionary fervor had uniformly caught on throughout the country. In the Mykolaiv oblast, where I was deployed, there was much skepticism, if not outright hostility, towards the events in Kyiv. “They just wanted to put up a Christmas tree,” I was told by one election commission member, “why are they [those on Maidan] causing all of this trouble?”
