Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has accused President Viktor Yushchenko of illegal interference in the parliamentary election campaign and his team of harboring plans to rig the vote in the September 30 parliamentary election. Ironically, three years ago it was Yushchenko who held Yanukovych responsible for violations in a presidential election campaign. The suspicions of foul play sparked the Orange Revolution, which eventually brought Yushchenko to power. Now Yanukovych leads the Party of Regions (PRU), which, according to opinion polls, should take the most votes in the election. Yushchenko backs the rival camp, consisting of the opposition coalition of Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense (NUNS) and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYT).
On September 17 the PRU issued a statement saying that the governors in Ukraine's western regions -- the stronghold of NUNS -- were deliberately tampering with voter lists. The PRU said that the lists of voters compiled by the governors’ offices differed from Interior Ministry data. Deputy Interior Minister Mykhaylo Kornienko told a press conference on the same day that many nonexistent voters were registered in western regions, and that he feared substitutes would vote for people who are not planning to come to the polling stations. The president appoints and dismisses regional governors, while the Interior Ministry is subordinated to the prime minister.
oy. The election is days away and they're still playing stupid games...oh well. That's to be expected. I am curious about what the European Observers are going to say about the fairness of the election. My wife is so pessimistic right now that she hasn't done her customary stumping. She expects more of the same no matter who wins.
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