Ukraine: barring jailed ex-leaders from elections does not make them undemocratic
KYIV. Aug 21 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has attacked a point by a member of the European Parliament (MEP) that Ukrainian parliamentary elections scheduled for October in Ukraine can already be branded as undemocratic as key opposition figures are prohibited from running in them.
It is unacceptable that former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, ex-interior minister Yury Lutsenko - both of whom are in prison - and other opposition politicians are barred from seeking seats in the future parliament, Elmar Brok, one of the leaders of the European People's Party group in the European Parliament, told reporters.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Dikusarov argued that assessing elections from the viewpoint of democratic principles before they take place is inappropriate.
"As for the value judgments about the future elections for the Verkhovna Rada that are being disseminated in the media and come from some of the members of the European Parliament, we see them as subjective judgments of individual European parliamentarians that do not reflect the official position of the European Union. Due to the priority nature of further rapprochement between Ukraine and the EU, we have repeatedly confirmed our loyalty to democratic values. Respect for the principle of supremacy of law is of key importance in this context," Dikusarov told Interfax.
He said the ministry carefully listens to "criticisms of shortcomings of the judiciary in our country from our partners, and after analyzing them the Ukrainian side takes necessary measures to achieve concrete practical results."
"At the same time, it is obvious that conclusions about the democratic value of elections must be based on their results and must not be drawn three months before the day of voting," Dikusarov said.
The international observers at October's elections will include members of the European Parliament.