2014 Ukraine Parliamentary Election Sunday Oct 26,2014

 

The Ukrainian parliamentary election to the Verkhovna Rada will be held on Sunday October 26,2014
The date of the election was announced by President Petro Poroshenko on August 25,2014
 


On September 02, 2014 the CEC of Ukraine  announced that voting would not be held for the 12 constituencies in Crimea.

On October 25,2014 they announced that there will also be no voting in 9 constituencies in Donetsk Oblast and 6 constituencies in Luhansk Oblast

Because of this 27 seats of the 450 seats in parliament will remain unfilled

President Petro Poroshenko had pressed for early parliamentary elections since his victory in the May 2014 Presidential Election

Petro Poroshenko called the election early to try to clear out Mr. Yanukovich loyalists and produce an assembly that also has a pro-Europe majority

President Poroshenko called the the snap election eight months after a street revolt overthrew Moscow-backed president Yanukovych, sparking conflict with Russia and a crisis between the Kremlin and Ukraine's Western allies.

The war with pro-Russian rebels in the industrial east and Russia's earlier annexation of the southern Crimean region has cast a dark shadow over the election. Voters in Crimea and in separatist-controlled areas of the eastern Lugansk and Donetsk provinces were unable to vote.

This is around five million of Ukraine's 36.5 million-strong electorate and means 27 seats in the 450-seat parliament will remain empty.The severing of those regions means the once peaceful, but now bloody divide between the mostly Russian-speaking east and Ukrainian-speaking west will take another step toward becoming permanent. 

Every citizen of Ukraine who is 18 years of age or older can exercise their right to vote in a mixed electoral system (50% under party lists and 50% under constituencies) with a 5% election threshold

Campaigning for this election is limited to the sixty days prior to the election, starting on 28 August 2014.
A total of 2,321 international observers have been registered to monitor the election

The main parties vying for seats are the Poroshenko Bloc, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk's People's Front, Oleh Lyashko's nationalist Radical Party and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland Party

The election comes amid an energy crisis, with Russia cutting off gas supplies to Ukraine in June in a dispute over unpaid bills.

Polling Day Sunday Oct 26,2014

Ukrainians voted on Sunday in an election that is expected to strengthen President Petro Poroshenko's mandate to end a separatist conflict in the east of the country.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. in the first parliamentary polls since street protests in the capital Kiev forced Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich to flee and ushered in a pro-Europe leadership under President Petro Poroshenko

Turnout reached more than 51%, according to official figures, however the turnout varied widely between the east and west of the country.

The highest percentage turnout was in the western Lviv region (about 70%), with the lowest in areas of Donetsk region under government control (about 30%).

International observers, meanwhile, expressed "serious concerns" over the effect the violence in the east of the country had on the election, with violence against candidates.

Polling stations close at 8:00 p.m. and exit polls will be available almost immediately. Twenty-nine parties are running, though only a handful is expected to reach the 5 per cent barrier required to secure representation in parliament

Opinion polls indicated a political grouping supporting Petro Poroshenko was likely to become the main force in the 450-seat assembly.

Leading the poll was a group backing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, which won 23 %of the votes cast for the 29 competing parties, ahead of the party of Prime Minister Arseny Yastseniuk on 21.3 %

The pro-Europe party, Selfhelp, won 13.2 % of the votes was in third place but a surprise was the strong performance of a group representing allies of ousted president Viktor Yanukovich.The Opposition Bloc, led by former Fuel Minister Yuri Boiko, secured 7.6 % - enough to put his party into parliament. The influence of pro-Russian groups looks set to be greatly diminished.

 President Petro Poroshenko casts his vote
 

 Maryna Poroshenko, wife of President Poroshenko, casts her ballot in parliamentary elections  in Kiev

Yulia Tymoshenko casts her vote
 

 Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk casts his ballot as his daughter Sofiya looks on
 

Oleh Lyashko, head of the Radical Party, holding a ballot paper

 Kiev Mayor and former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and his wife Natalia speak to the press at a polling station

  

Ukrainian servicemen and a woman hold their ballots during a parliamentary election at a polling station in Kiev, Ukraine

Ukrainian PM’s party wins parliamentary election

The People’s Front Party, led by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk won the country’s parliamentary election, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Saturday.

The People’s Front garnered 22.14 % of the votes while the political bloc that supports Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko came second, with 21.81 % of the votes

The Samopomich party, headed by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, ranked third with 10.97 % of the votes.

The eighth Ukrainian parliamentary election was held October 26,2014

 A total of 29 political parties and some 1,401 candidates contested for the 423 seats.