In the course of the meeting, the Parties discussed the issue of holding elections on October 26.
According to Oleksandr Turchynov, despite the impossibility to hold elections in certain constituencies in the East of Ukraine and on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, “we will be able to elect a legitimate Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that will work fruitfully and adopt efficient decisions.”
“It is extremely important for us that the elections are held in a fair and transparent manner and Ukrainian people elect a new Parliament,” said Oleksandr Turchynov, explaining that this is the reason why he has personally addressed “all our partners, including the OSCE, so that as many observers as possible could arrive to our country for elections.”
In her turn, Tana de Zulueta claimed that 80 long-term observers have
been working in Ukraine
since the end of September and on the election day there will be more than 600
of short-term observers. “These are the observers from the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly, PACE and NATO,” she said, explaining that observers will stay on
the entire territory
of Ukraine. Apart from this, Oleksandr Turchynov reminded that during its later meeting, the Parliament has adopted the law “initiated by the Government regarding increasing criminal responsibility for any influence on the expression of will of Ukrainian citizens.”
“We have adopted this law because Ukrainian authority is interested in fair and transparent elections and it takes a compelling stand in regard to non-interference in the electoral process and non-use of administrative pressure,” he said.
At the same time, Chairperson of the Parliament expressed hope that following the results of elections, “pro-European democratic forces in the Verkhovna Rada will form the majority, while the political forces representing remnants of the old regime will either not get into the Parliament, or will be in the minority.”
“It is important for me that the Parliament becomes a stabilizing factor of Ukrainian politics, as it was during the hardest times after the Revolution of Dignity,” summed Oleksandr Turchynov.
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