Ukraine vote 'largely democratic,' say observers

Ukraine's presidential election "largely upheld democratic commitments" and provided the new leader with the legitimacy needed to tackle the country's separatist insurgency, international observers said today.
"The electoral and security authorities of Ukraine should be commended for their efforts -- under extraordinary circumstances -- to facilitate an election that largely upheld democratic commitments," the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) short-term mission coordinator Joao Soares said.
Yesterday's vote "provides the new president of Ukraine with the legitimacy to establish immediately an inclusive dialogue with all citizens in the eastern regions, to restore their trust and confidence, and to decentralise state power in order to preserve the unity of the country by respecting the diversity of Ukrainian society," said Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) mission head Andreas Gross.

Billionaire oligarch Petro Poroshenko said Monday Ukraine would press on with an offensive to crush pro-Russian separatists in the east after partial results showed he had trounced his rivals in the first round of elections.
Russia had refused to recognise the legitimacy of Ukraine's interim pro-Western leaders and President Vladimir Putin had on Friday only promised to "respect" the outcome of the presidential vote.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today said the Kremlin, which has been threatened with a new round of Western sanctions if it meddled further in Ukraine after its seizure of Crimea in March, was willing to work with the new leaders.

Yesterday's election was not held in parts of the separatist east where pro-Russian insurgents control a dozen towns and cities and where about 15 per cent of the electorate lives.

The observers' mission acknowledged the high turnout -- put at more than 60 per cent by the central election commission in regions under the government's control -- despite repeated attempts by militants to intimidate voters and organisers.
"Forced evictions and closures of district election commissions by armed groups, abductions, death threats, forced entry into private homes and the seizure of equipment and election materials were attempts to prevent the election and to deny citizens their right to vote," the OSCE and PACE said in a joint report, commissioned by the Council of Europe and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA).

The teams had about 1,000 observers stationed throughout all regions of Ukraine except for Crimea, where no presidential voting took place.