UCC International Election Observation Mission in full-swing
March 17, 2006 -- The Ukrainian Canadian Congress
International Election Observation Mission, which will monitor the
March 26, 2006 elections to the Ukrainian Parliament, has been launched
and is now in full swing.
The
UCC, which fielded large monitoring teams during the Ukrainian Presidential
elections on 2004, culminating with a 500-person delegation in December
of that year, is building on its experiences in the field of election
monitoring. In December 2005, UCC mandated a committee chaired by
Taras Pidzamecky of Toronto to prepare a mission team for deployment
in Ukraine for the March 26 Parliamentary elections. A dedicated
group of volunteers began work on all facets of the mission, including
travel in Ukraine, accommodations, training and liaison with governmental
and non-governmental agencies. After issuing a call for volunteers,
150 election observers were selected and, at their own cost, are
now on their way to Ukraine.
Commenting before his departure for Ukraine, Paul Grod, UCC 1st
Vice President and Head of Mission for the delegation, said “Ukraine’s
democracy hinges on the right of the people of Ukraine to fairly
and transparently elect their government without fraud, intimidation
or manipulation. Our role as international election observers is
to protect that right by providing objective observation and, with
our presence, acting as a deterrent to those that wish to impede
the development of a civil society in Ukraine.”
The UCC was registered with the Ukrainian Central Election Commission
as an international non-governmental organization in February 2006.
This status allows UCC observers to receive official accreditation
from the CEC and to observe unhindered all activities relating to
the voting up to and including the counting of the ballots.
Since early March, Chief Observer Marc Shwec has been in Kyiv preparing
for the arrival of the observers, who will undergo intense training
there before being deployed to various regions of Ukraine in preparation
for the Election Day. An initial report from the team in Ukraine
will be issued on March 27, 2006.
“All Canadians can take considerable pride and satisfaction from
the fact that so many members of our community have taken it upon
themselves to be in Ukraine next week to observe and monitor these
very important parliamentary elections,” said UCC president Orysia
Sushko.
“As Canadians we are blessed in our country to be able to vote
in open and transparent elections, free of fraud or corruption.
We seek no less for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine,” said Sushko.
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