[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 96 (Tuesday, July 16, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          UKRAINE BI-ELECTIONS

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 16, 2002

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I wish to call attention once again to the 
alarming conditions surrounding the Ukrainian parliamentary bi-
elections, held on Sunday, July 14. On the evening of July 12, less 
than forty-eight (48) hours before the balloting was to begin, a local 
court found Olexander Zhyr, the candidate I referred to in my remarks 
last week, guilty of campaign finance improprieties. Mr. Zhyr was 
disqualified from the race with no time to appeal the decision. As the 
domestic nonpartisan election watchdog group the Committee of Voters of 
Ukraine has commented, the last minute timing of the decision made it 
impossible for the elections to be considered democratic.
  Mr. Speaker, I have already gone on the record as noting the 
important role Mr. Zhyr played in the Ukrainian Rada, heading the 
parliamentary committee that investigated the murders of Ukrainian 
journalists. Additionally, Mr. Zhyr was leading investigations into 
accusations that the Ukrainian government illegally exported arms to 
Iraq. I would like to express my deep concern that Mr. Zhyr's 
disqualification was politically motivated. Electoral manipulation of 
this sort severely undermines the democratic process. Again, I would 
stress that as a country that aspires to full membership in Western 
institutions, the Government of Ukraine must improve its democratic 
record. A good start would be to reverse the decision to disqualify Mr. 
Zhyr, and allow him to participate in an election that meets 
international standards of transparency and democratic procedures.

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