IRI Denounces Illegal Donetsk and Luhansk Elections

IRI’s statement denouncing illegal elections held in Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine on November 2, 2014.

Washington, DC – IRI issued the following statement on the illegal November 2 elections in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine.

“Tomorrow, under the guise of democracy, Russia-supported separatists in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts will hold ‘elections’ in an attempt to give legitimacy to their illegal seizure of areas of Ukraine.  IRI, which has now observed more than 200 elections in its three decades of work, including every national election in Ukraine since its independence, rejects these efforts as little more than a ploy to try to bring respectability to that which is entirely illegitimate and contrary to democracy’s basic tenets.
When elections become a mere propaganda tool for those who are really trying to deny citizens their rights and choices, as has happened in the case of Donetsk and Luhansk, we must condemn them.

“On October 26, the rightful government of Ukraine held successful parliamentary elections  which IRI’s team of international observers found to be well-administered, peaceful and representative of the will of the Ukrainian voters.

“Rather than allowing all citizens of Donetsk and Luhansk to vote in their own country’s parliamentary elections, Russia-backed separatists are creating the façade of democracy where none exists.  And as an organization that believes in the right of all peoples to freely choose their leaders through the ballot box, we feel compelled to draw attention to those who would attempt to use the ballot box to subvert true freedom of choice.

“As Ambassador Mark Green, IRI president, said, ‘When elections become a mere propaganda tool for those who are really trying to deny citizens their rights and choices, as has happened in the case of Donetsk and Luhansk, we must condemn them.’

“Given these facts, IRI supports the Ukrainian government and joins the international community in denouncing the elections as illegitimate.” 

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