Two presidential runners-up were beaten in Ukraine on April 9 as they travelled across the nation to meet people as the race went on. In Nikolayev ultra-nationalist Pravy Sector group militants attacked MP Oleg Tsarev, an independent candidate. He is a former member of the Party of Regions, which was headed by former President Victor Yanukovych before his ouster as a result of the coup.  The reason is the support expressed by Tsarev for making Ukraine a federal state. He also advocates the idea of making Russian the second official language as it is spoken by half of the country’s population.

The very same day in Lugansk anti-government protesters attacked Michael Dobkin, another presidential hopeful from the Party of Regions. He was accused of betraying South-Eastern Ukraine and collaborating with the Kiev-based regime…

The reasons for attacks were different but the incidents give a clear picture of the conditions the campaign is taking place in. Negative feelings are translated into aggressivebehavior. The regime has failed to disarm militants. Too many people are prone to violence and in many cases it is the only way to express one’s views.  At that, contrary to the agreement of February 25 with foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland as its guarantors, the regime insists the date of election should be no other but May 25.  It’s hard to predict what will come of it. At present there are no elemental conditions to meet international standards for letting the people express their will. According to the Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections, which was unanimously adopted by theInter-Parliamentary Council at its154th session, every candidate for election and every political party shall have an equal opportunity to freely express political views and to move freely within the country in order to campaign for election. The right of candidates to security with respect to their lives and property shall be recognized and protected. Every individual and every political party has the right to the protection of the law and to a remedy for violation of political and electoral rights. States should take the necessary legislative steps and other measures, in accordance with their constitutional processes, to guarantee the rights and institutional framework for periodic and genuine, free and fair elections, in accordance with their obligations under international law. In particular, States should take the necessary measures to ensure that parties, candidates and supporters enjoy equal security, and that State authorities take the necessary steps to prevent electoral violence. The   document Joint Recommendations on the Election Law and the Election Administrationby the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR, which was approved by PACE in 2003, states that democratic elections are not possible without observation of human rights, freedom of speech and press, freedom of movement across the country, freedom of meeting and association for political goals, including the creation of political parties. 

Is it serious to talk about democratic elections and human rights in Ukraine where presidential candidates and their supporters are beaten by political opponents, where opposition media comes under pressure, some of outlets even get closed, where militants break into TV studios while the parliament is overloaded with draft bills on banning political parties?  

The fundamental principle of equal opportunities is obviously breached here. It is not observed in case of political forces, whether they are loyal to the regime or not. Politicalpreferencesdifferinvariouspartsofthecountry.  Any candidate campaigning in an unfriendly region is under threat.  Taking into consideration how many weapons were grabbed by militants during the coup, the candidates are never safe. For instance, no way the head of nationalist party Svoboda (Freedom) Oleh Tyahnybok can be safe in Donetsk, while Oleg Tsarev or former Kharkov mayor Michael Dobkin, who has formed the Ukrainian Front loyal to former President Victor Yanukovych, cannot feel safe in the western parts of the country, in such cities as Ternopol or Lviv.   As a result voters cannot get impartial information about the candidates and, subsequently, make a free and conscientious choice.  The regions   stage information blockades to deprive the people of opportunity to know anything about candidates with different views to express. Under the existing conditions the results and legitimacy of the May presidential election are dubious from the very start to the extent the organization of the electoral campaign deviates from internationally recognized democratic standards.