Ukraine Is Like France — Almost

European parliamentarians have positively assessed the technical side of preparations for the presidential elections in Ukraine. “Preparations are going quite well. We don’t have anything negative to say as far as technical preparations for the elections are concerned because this is also the way Western states get ready for elections,” said Thierry Mariani, chairman of the France-Ukraine Friendship Group at the French National Assembly and member of France’s delegation at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at a press conference in Kyiv last Wednesday. At the same time, he pointed out that observers from various European parliaments had noted that not all candidates had free access to the mass media. Mr. Mariani stressed that the presidential elections are important both for Ukraine and Europe. “It is very important for Europe to know who will rule Ukraine because you are a neighbor of ours. It is also very important that the elections be fair and transparent, and their results indisputable,” said Mariani, as reported by Interfax Ukraine. Mr. Mariani emphasized that the parliamentarians’ three-day mission is of an “informational, not inspectional, nature.” Similar delegations will be visiting Ukraine during the next ten days. He also revealed that the coming elections in Ukraine would attract many observers — about 3,000 more than for any previous elections. He said that European countries are not commenting very much on the presidential elections in Ukraine because they have focused all their attention on the US presidential race. According to Alain Marceau, member of the French parliament’s law commission, Ukrainian ballots are conducive to fair elections because the names of all candidates are printed on the same sheet in alphabetical order, as is the box to be ticked off by those who vote against everyone. “Your ballots are difficult to forge because they are printed at the same factory that makes bank notes,” Mr. Marceau noted, adding that in France each candidate is issued a separate ballot and responsibility for having the required number printed, depending on one’s financial capabilities, rests with the candidate. Commenting on whether it is legitimate, by European standards, for a candidate to refuse to participate in televised debates, Michel Voisin, member of the French parliament’s law commission and France’s representative to the OSCE, said, “This is up to the candidate.” He also recalled that in the last French presidential elections Jacques Chirac also bowed out of televised debates with Jean-Marie Le Pen.