Candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Ukraine will have to pay a pretty penny to buy the votes of citizens

Candidates will have to pay double to gain a victory during the next parliamentary elections

Photo: UNIAN

The selective approach to the registration of candidates with the Central Election Commission and the widespread exploitation of military troops by candidates running in the elections are two distinctive features of the current election race. The narrow term for holding the elections forces the candidates to actively apply the previously tested technique of bribing voters. In connection with this, voters have become much more expensive.

Fish in the net

With the approaching parliamentary elections in Ukraine a trend of the growth in the number of bribes of voters is being observed, former Director General of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine Oleksandr Chernenko told Capital. “The election campaign has only just begun and the cases of bribery of voters are so far insignificant compared to the previous elections. However, there is a trend of their numbers rising. We affix mainly a bribe in the form of commodities – gratuities and greasing the palms of voters with money. The case of forming the list of voters, a so-called pyramid, is also being observed. So far, such information has been received from around 20 constituencies,” says Chernenko.

As the employee of one of the election headquarters told Capital, pyramids or, as political scientists call them, “nets” operate on the principle of MMM. Due to the narrow term of the election campaign at least two candidates in every constituency are using such a technique.

However, precisely due to the fact that this method is fairly widespread it could foil the process, the source of the publication believes. “For example, we threw out such a “net” and another party and two candidates followed suit. You will in any case stumble upon the very same people that will take a bribe from all candidates. For this reason, somebody will get rich from these elections, but these nets are not likely to work,” the interlocutor of Capital told.

According to his calculations, the price of a vote in these elections in a number of constituencies doubled. “Today, a vote costs UAH 200-500,” he added. Noteworthy is that according to the data of the CVU, the average price of a vote in the parliamentary elections in 2012 was UAH 50-300.

Coordinator of the Election Program of the OPORA Civilian Network Olha Aivazovska told Capital that bribery of voters could become the main problem in the upcoming elections. “So far, law enforcement bodies are slow to react to cases of bribery,” she noted. However, officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) assure that they are actively dealing with violations of the law on the part of candidates. “The police file a criminal case on the fact of violation of electoral law, first and foremost, in cases of bribery of voters. But we require a statement regarding every case and documentary confirmation. We will take into account substantiated information in the mass media,” advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Herashchenko told Capital. At the same time, he could not disclose the number of criminal cases opened by the MIA on this matter. It is worth noting that over the entire history of elections in independent Ukraine nobody has been brought to criminal liability based on the fact of candidates bribing voters.

Titushky put on camouflage

Chernenko also says the absence of the blatant exploitation of administrative resources is another distinct feature of these next elections. “But we also observe the selective approach of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine to the registration of candidates. This was not the case in 2012,” he stressed. He also does not rule out the possibility of gross violations on the night of the vote count. “The District Election Commissions could block or protract the vote tallying due to bribery or a conspiracy. Here everything will depend on how the powers that be and law enforcement bodies behave. They could nip this process in the bud. If, as during the tenure of Yanukovych, these constituencies are ignored while the nimble majoritarians get down to brass tacks in their matters, this could create major problems. Indeed, titushky will again show their presence wearing camouflage instead of their sports costumes and begin creating limitless havoc,” Chernenko cautioned.

But an interlocutor with Capital working in the election headquarters of one of the candidates says the distinctive feature of these next elections can be described as ubiquitous use of militants on the part of the candidates. “Every respectful candidate today has hundreds of youth under his control. Sometimes they are simply young boys dressed in camouflage and in some cases dudes that were somehow associated with the Maidan and today sell their services,” said the source of Capital. He specified that creation by one candidate of such a brigade forces his rival to react using the same methods. “But they will not say that this is some unknown kids from the underworld. That is why they claim they are with the Azov or Aidar battalions and place stickers on their jeeps, driving around the constituencies, agreeing on advertising space and working with the public opinion leaders,” said the source.

Herashchenko assures that the police is ready to defend election commissions from such pressure.