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Elections to the legislatures of the unrecognised Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk, together called the Donbass region, are scheduled to take place on 2 November 2014. Ukraine has urged Russia to use its influence to stop the elections and "to avoid a frozen conflict". Neither the European Union, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe or the United States will recognise the elections, which violate the terms of the Minsk Protocol. Russia, on the other hand, has indicated that it will recognise the results as legitimate. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that the election was an important step needed to "to legitimise the authorities". Ukraine held the first parliamentary elections since the February 2014 revolution on 26 October. DPR and LPR authorities blocked these elections in the areas that they control. As part of the Minsk Protocol, local elections in the areas occupied by the DPR and LPR were supposed to be held on 7 December, in accordance with Ukrainian law.

People who are at least thirty years old and who "permanently resided" in the DPR and LPR in the last 10 years are electable for four years and may be nominated by public organisations. Voting over the Internet was also possible in an attempt to give a chance for those who lived outside territory controlled by the DPR and LPR to cast their vote; Internet voting already started prior to the actual elections.

Background

Donetsk People's Republic

The central election commission that is organising the election is preparing 3.2 million ballots, but it has no voter lists. It will set up mobile polling stations to enable DPR fighters, including Russians and other foreigners in their ranks, to vote.

Candidates (head of republic elections):

• Alexander Zakharchenko (Donetsk Republic)

• Yuri Sivokonenko

• Alexander Kofman

Parties/Lists (parliamentary elections)

• Donetsk Republic

• Free Donbass

The Communist Party of Donetsk People's Republic did endorsed Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko’s candidature at the elections for premiership. But itself the party was banned from participating in the election because it "made too many mistakes in its submitted documents". Pavel Gubarev, the New Russia Party and other parties were banned from participating because they "were not able to hold a founding conference", "purported errors in their document" or because they had "not notified the central election commission of the conference at which the party had been founded"

Campaign

Candidate Alexander Zakharchenko elections promises were described (on 23 October 2014) by the Financial Times as "a list of mandates and promises that ran the gamut from somewhat realistic to well outside the realm of possibility". During campaign rallies told potential voters that he wanted pensions to be "higher than in Poland" and that pensioners should have enough money to "travel to Australia at least once a year to shoot a dozen kangaroos on Safari". Zakharchenko promised to build "a normal state, a good one, a just one. Our boys died for this, civilians are still being killed for this until now". Zakharchenko also vowed that production would soon restart at closed enterprises; there would be a 10 per cent discount on certain groceries; salaries would be immediately distributed to the city’s doctors and nurses and that pensioners would soon receive their pensions. He also stated during a campaign trip “These are historical times. We are creating a new country! It’s an insane goal” and “We’re like the United Arab Emirates. Our region is very rich. We have coal, metallurgy, natural gas . . . The difference between us and the Emirates is they don’t have a war there and we do”. The Financial Times reported that during campaign events Zakharchenko carefully recorded the names of those who had appealed for help to him "before summoning one of a dozen aides who he promised would swiftly deal with the problems". According to Financial Times he came to campaign events "Riding in a fleet of Lexus and Toyota Cruisers and accompanied by no fewer than 30 armed guards".

According to Reuters territory controlled by the DPR was "plastered with campaign billboards of Zakharchenko". There were also Zakharchenko elections posters show white doves or pictures of children, with the exhortation: "Vote for life!". According to Financial Times other candidates then Zakharchenko did not use billboards in their campaign and were generally unknown to voters.

Polls

Candidates (head of republic elections):

Candidatures (parliamentary elections)

Lugansk People's Republic

Candidates (head of republic elections):

• Igor Plotnitsky (Peace for Lugansk Land)

• Oleg Akimov (Lugansk Economic Union)

• Larisa Airapetyan

• Viktor Penner

Candidatures (parliamentary elections):

• Peace for Lugansk Land

• Lugansk Economic Union

• People's Union

Central election commission head Sergei Kozyakov stated on 31 October that the early voting voter turnout in its mobile polling stations ranged from more then 90% to "not enough ballots". The central election commission has also refused to register parties and candidates on technical grounds (one of these refusals lead to clashes with representatives of the central elections commission that left three people injured).

Legitimacy

According to the text of the Minsk Protocol, local elections in Donbass were meant to be held in early December, in compliance with Ukrainian law. Representatives from Russia, the DPR, and the LPR signed the Protocol. Five days after signing a follow-up memorandum on the implementation of the Minsk Protocol, DPR and LPR authorities announced that they would hold their own elections in November. The United States and the European Union quickly condemned the elections. As a representative of Russia signed the Minsk Protocol, some European leaders asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence to stop the elections in the DPR and LPR. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on 28 October that Russia would recognise the results and that they did not violate the Protocol. OSCE chairman Didier Burkhalter confirmed that the DPR and LPR elections ran "counter to the letter and spirit of the Minsk Protocol", and said that they would "further complicate its implementation". According to Burkhalter, the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine attempted to raise this issue with the DPR and LPR authorities in a video conference on 31 October, but DPR and LPR representatives did not respond.

On 1 November, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President Anne Brasseur "deplored" the decision to hold the elections, she stated that PACE would not recognise them. She also claimed they were a violation of the Minsk Protocol "and will hinder the implementation of the already fragile peace agreement". Brasseur urged Russia not to recognise the elections "to honour their commitments under the Minsk protocol".

Foreign observers

The central election commission claims that 50 foreign observers will monitor the elections; from Russia, Abkhazia, France, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Bulgaria and the United States.

References

1. ^ Date of elections in Donetsk, Luhansk People’s republics the same - Nov. 2, Russian News Agency "TASS" (11 October 2014)
2. Ukraine urges Russia to stop separatist elections, USA TODAY (21 October 2014)
3. ^ "Russia Backs Plan by Ukraine Separatists for an Early Election". The New York Times. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
4. EU not to recognize elections organized by DPR and LPR, Interfax-Ukraine (25 October 2014)
5. ^ PACE president condemns decision to hold 'elections' in DPR, LPR – statement, Interfax-Ukraine (1 November 2014)
6. Ukraine crisis: Russia to recognise rebel vote in Donetsk and Luhansk, BBC News (28 October 2014)
7. Ukraine urges Russia to stop separatist elections, USA TODAY (21 October 2014)
8. Ukraine crisis: Russia to recognise rebel vote in Donetsk and Luhansk, BBC News (28 October 2014)
9. ^ East Ukraine separatists hold vote to gain legitimacy, promise normalcy, Reuters (30 October 2014)
10. http://en.tass.ru/world/753337
11. Eastern Ukraine's Fake State Is About to Elect a Fake Prime Minister
12. ^ Template:Ru icon Will the New Russia to make a choice?, Moskovskij Komsomolets (31 October 2014)
13. ^ A prelude to a farce: Prearranged ballots for Kremlin-backed breakaway regions, Kyiv Post (Nov. 1, 2014)
14. ^ Donetsk People’s Republic campaign reveals shambolic tendencies, Financial Times (23 October 2014)
15. Template:Ru icon Poll: More than half of voters in elections DNR ready to support Alexander Zaharchenko , ITAR-TASS (28 October 2014)
16. Template:Ru icon Poll: More than half of voters in elections DNR ready to support Alexander Zaharchenko , ITAR-TASS (28 October 2014)
17. Early voting in Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk Republic shows high turnout, ITAR-TASS (31 October 2014)
18. ^ "Eastern Ukraine's Fake State Is About to Elect a Fake Prime Minister". Foreign Policy. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
19. "Elections in Donetsk, Luhansk In Line With Minsk Agreements: Moscow". RIA Novosti. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
20. "So-called elections not in line with Minsk Protocol, says OSCE Chair, calling for enhanced efforts and dialogue to implement all commitments" (Press release). Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.

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