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Key areas left out of Ukraine elections
October 25, 2015, 8:53 pm

A win for Poroshenko's solidarity party signals a mandate for Ukraine to try to join the European Union, a move that is rejected by Moscow [Xinhua]

A win for Poroshenko’s solidarity party signals a mandate for Ukraine to try to join the European Union, a move that is rejected by Moscow [Xinhua]


Millions of eligible Ukrainian voters headed to the polls Sunday in an election that will be seen as a referendum of President Petro Poroshenko’s 18-month rule, his handling of tense relations with Moscow as the east seeks secession, and the domestic economy.

According to the Central Electoral Commission, 350,000 candidates from 132 parties contested more than 168,000 local and municipal positions – including mayoral and council representatives – throughout the country.

But the civil war in the east of the country between the Kiev army and pro-Russisn militias has weighed heavily on the elections: there are no polls in the Donbass region, large areas of which are controlled by pro-Moscow separatists.

Although a ceasefire between warring parties remains in place since it was agreed last year by Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in the Belorussian capital Minsk, critical issues between Kiev and the rebels in the east have not been fully resolved.

Moscow has persistently called for the Donbass region to be awarded special status in order to protect the rights of the Russian people there.

There will be no elections in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last year.

Russia was suspended from the G8 last year over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and its alleged backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Russia denies the allegations.

Elections in the southeastern city of Mariupol were also pushed back to mid-November due to irregularities with the ballots, authorities in Kiev said on Sunday.

But pro-Russian parties in the city of half a million accused Kiev of manipulating events to ensure they don’t win in the elections.

Poroshenko called for an investigation, but pro-Russian parties accused him of “dirty and unprincipled campaigning”.

The electoral commission also canceled the ballot in over 200 districts; the challenge posed was how to get more than 1.2 million people internally displayed by the conflict to vote.

The United Nations humanitarian office says more than 8,000 people have been killed by the fighting.

At press time, election officials in the capital Kiev said that initial reports indicate that there was overall low voter turnout.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies