OSCE observer says Ukraine elections marred by opposition leaders' imprisonment
The new membership of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has to play the role of bringing the country together, Walburga Habsburg Douglas, the special coordinator leading the short-term OSCE observer mission and Head of the OSCE PA delegation, has said.
"Now, when the election campaign is over, it is time for the new parliament to fulfill the role of a forum for reconciliation inside the country," the observer said, noting that the opposition leaders former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko did not have a chance to run for the parliament.
She said that amendments to the legislation before the elections to some extent allowed more parliamentary candidates to participate in the elections.
"But Ukraine took a step backwards by expelling hundreds of candidates mostly for technical reasons, and the unfair expulsion of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko is disappointing," she said.
