Post-election conflicts in Ukraine. Unauthorized mayor occupied office in Cherkassy

Tuesday morning incumbent mayor of Ukrainian city of Cherkassy Vladimir Oleinik (he still was the mayor by that moment, as official results of the elections had not been announced) organized a press-conference to make a statement as concerning the mayor elections. In Oleinik’s words, a great number of violations have been registered during the elections, according to which the results can be declared invalid. Another candidate to the mayor post Grigory Sasko supported the opinion. He presented a leaflet to journalists, that called him a schizophrenic (even a copy of medical certificate was attached at that). In Sasko’s words, the leaflet had been distributed among the voters on very last days before the elections, that considerably influenced their choice. It was also said at the press-conference, the governor had held private conversations with directors of all large-scale enterprises of Cherkassy and asked to vote for Anatoly Voloshin at the coming mayor elections. Grigory Sasko even says, he had been offered bribes to quit the pre-election race in Voloshin’s favor. The name of the briber was not mentioned, as Sasko was afraid that his life was in danger.

The journalists also had a chance to see documents that demonstrated violation of the voting regulations. For example, hundreds of students of the Fire Safety Institute had been illegally registered to the address, where the institute was located, that further allowed them to take part in the voting. Vladimir Oleinik and Grigory Sasko are sure, the students’ votes have been also used for voting in the areas where they had been previously registered. There are some more violations of the voting regulations, that may entail repeated elections. During the press-conference the secretary of the mayor told Vladimir Oleinik that Anatoly Voloshin had occupied the mayor’s office. Vladimir Oleinik entered the office accompanied by the journalists and saw Anatoly Voloshin with the security there. After demands of Vladimir Oleinik and head of the city election committee Galina Oleksenko to clear out the office, as no official results of the elections had been announced yet, Anatoly Voloshin said he considered himself to be an official mayor and refused to leave the office. Instead, he made an official statement for the press and accused the head of the city election committee of a deliberate delay with counting of votes. Vladimir Oleinik appealed to the Prosecutor’s Office and police. Deputy head of Ukraine’s Ministry for Internal Affairs in the Cherkassy region Yury Oleinik arrived to the site, but said he had no sufficient authorities to make “the impostors to clear out the office.”

Vladimir Oleinik is going to obtain a juridical appraisal of police’s negligence. He asked representatives of the municipal enterprises to come to the city administration by 4 p.m. Vladimir Oleinik says, he will appeal to international organizations, if “law enforcement authorities still ignore the laws.”

Meanwhile, directors of the Cherkassy municipal enterprises come to the administration to congratulate the new mayor (who has not been legally declared mayor yet). The opposition continues.

Andrei Lubensky PRAVDA.Ru Ukraine

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/02/39150.html