The Police and Civilized Voting

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has urged the police, particularly precinct officers, on behalf of the government to do their best to ensure trouble-free voting in the election runoff on November 21. He said this last Friday in Kyiv, addressing the all-Ukrainian meeting of precinct police inspectors attended by 6,500 officers as well as Interior Minister Mykola Bilokon and deputy head of the Presidential Administration Valentyn Kovalenko. “On behalf of the government, I urge you to do all you can to ensure trouble-free voting,” the premier said, noting that on November 21 the police will be on “difficult and critical duty.” He also thanked the law enforcers for calm and peaceful voting in the first round on October 31. “You are among those who deserve praise for this,” reported Interfax-Ukraine, quoting the prime minister. Mr. Yanukovych assured the law enforcers that the government would in turn fulfill all the pledges it had made. The premier said, in particular, that a decision was in the pipeline, according to which one year of a precinct inspector’s work would be counted as 1.5 years of service. The prime minister emphasized that both the police and the government should rally their efforts to radically improve crime prevention, as well as to raise the prestige of law enforcement bodies. “Precinct inspectors should be the linchpin of the police,” the prime minister said, as he awarded Cabinet of Ministers Diplomas of Honor to this country’s best precinct officers, while Mr. Kovalenko announced the recipients of the President of Ukraine’s citations. There were also Interior Ministry awards for the best policemen. A total of 156 officers received awards.