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Observers Go to Ukraine for Election Separatists Plan to Disrupt Observers Go to Ukraine for Election Separatists Plan to Disrupt
(about 2 hours later)
DONETSK, Ukraine — A delegation of international election observers arrived in this troubled eastern Ukrainian city on Saturday on the eve of a critical national vote, just hours after separatist leaders from several eastern provinces met here and reiterated their promises to disrupt it.DONETSK, Ukraine — A delegation of international election observers arrived in this troubled eastern Ukrainian city on Saturday on the eve of a critical national vote, just hours after separatist leaders from several eastern provinces met here and reiterated their promises to disrupt it.
“There will be no presidential elections,” said Roman Lyagin, an official from the newly declared and unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic. “An overwhelming majority of people don’t want them.”“There will be no presidential elections,” said Roman Lyagin, an official from the newly declared and unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic. “An overwhelming majority of people don’t want them.”
Mr. Lyagin, wearing a striped shirt and a bow tie, said that his group had confiscated all of the official voting center stamps and a portion of the ballots. “Every stamp, down to the last one, is in our possession,” he said, adding that the election was a “provocation.”Mr. Lyagin, wearing a striped shirt and a bow tie, said that his group had confiscated all of the official voting center stamps and a portion of the ballots. “Every stamp, down to the last one, is in our possession,” he said, adding that the election was a “provocation.”
Western governments have promoted the vote as a way for Ukraine to move past the violent upheaval that deposed its legally elected government earlier this year. But the two eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhanks have balked, with rebel leaders that control them declaring the vote illegal and shutting down large portions of voting centers and election commissions.Western governments have promoted the vote as a way for Ukraine to move past the violent upheaval that deposed its legally elected government earlier this year. But the two eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhanks have balked, with rebel leaders that control them declaring the vote illegal and shutting down large portions of voting centers and election commissions.
More than 3,000 foreign election observers have poured into Ukraine in recent days, but they have largely avoided the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. Nearly half are from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the single largest delegation ever, said Spencer Oliver, the secretary general of the organization’s Parliamentary Assembly, who was among those who came to Donetsk on Saturday.More than 3,000 foreign election observers have poured into Ukraine in recent days, but they have largely avoided the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. Nearly half are from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the single largest delegation ever, said Spencer Oliver, the secretary general of the organization’s Parliamentary Assembly, who was among those who came to Donetsk on Saturday.
“We felt strongly that we should get a real picture of what’s going on here,” Mr. Oliver said.“We felt strongly that we should get a real picture of what’s going on here,” Mr. Oliver said.
The delegation on Saturday, which included elected officials from Europe and Canada, left the city in the late afternoon. Mr. Oliver said observers were positioned near the borders of the two provinces and might still enter on Sunday to monitor the vote.The delegation on Saturday, which included elected officials from Europe and Canada, left the city in the late afternoon. Mr. Oliver said observers were positioned near the borders of the two provinces and might still enter on Sunday to monitor the vote.
Still, the election will be severely impaired in the two eastern regions, they said.Still, the election will be severely impaired in the two eastern regions, they said.
“They’ve shown a complete disrespect for any democratic standards,” said Zillikens Klaus, team leader for the Organization for Security and Cooperation’s special monitoring mission to Ukraine. “We will not forget that. We are 57 countries, and we have a long memory.”“They’ve shown a complete disrespect for any democratic standards,” said Zillikens Klaus, team leader for the Organization for Security and Cooperation’s special monitoring mission to Ukraine. “We will not forget that. We are 57 countries, and we have a long memory.”
At District Election Commission No. 42, which is responsible for most of central Donetsk, a city of more than a million people, two young separatists sat in the reception area, working on a computer and whittling a campaign poster with a pocketknife.At District Election Commission No. 42, which is responsible for most of central Donetsk, a city of more than a million people, two young separatists sat in the reception area, working on a computer and whittling a campaign poster with a pocketknife.
“There will be no voting in central Donetsk, that’s 100 percent fact,” said Rushan Taktarov, 22, who said he had run the Communist Party youth branch in the nearby town of Makievka, before joining the separatists in Donetsk.“There will be no voting in central Donetsk, that’s 100 percent fact,” said Rushan Taktarov, 22, who said he had run the Communist Party youth branch in the nearby town of Makievka, before joining the separatists in Donetsk.
He said that separatists would not stop people from going to the polls on Sunday, but that voting stations would be hard to find, and few would have ballots or their official stamps.He said that separatists would not stop people from going to the polls on Sunday, but that voting stations would be hard to find, and few would have ballots or their official stamps.
“If someone wants to vote, we are not going to stop them,” he said, chewing on a toothpick.“If someone wants to vote, we are not going to stop them,” he said, chewing on a toothpick.
Joao Soares, the coordinator of the O.S.C.E.'s short-term observer mission, said there was no escaping the unusual nature of the vote. “Of course, this is a special election,” Mr. Soares said in Kiev. “It is a very special election.”Joao Soares, the coordinator of the O.S.C.E.'s short-term observer mission, said there was no escaping the unusual nature of the vote. “Of course, this is a special election,” Mr. Soares said in Kiev. “It is a very special election.”
There were further signs of fraying among the separatists on Saturday. A group of about a dozen leaders from a handful of eastern regions and approximately 200 of their supporters gathered in a hotel to discuss what they said was the formation of a new territory, Novorossiya, which according to their map included nine southeastern provinces and Crimea.
Participants sat in blue velvet chairs and listened to speeches loaded with emotional references to World War II, forefathers and Nazis, the symbols that pro-Russian leaders have used to whip up the passions of people here.
But about an hour into the conference, Mr. Lyagin, the man who identified himself as a leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, burst onto the stage, seized the microphone and said: “This event was not agreed to by us. It is not clear to me what is happening here.”
Mr. Lyagin later told journalists that he suspected that the meeting had funding from an outside group or oligarch, as it had been lavishly prepared, with embossed blue folders, pens and a spread of ham sandwiches and cookies.
“I don’t know who these people are,” he said. “They came to us from Moscow.”