IU follows Ukraine vote

In a country devoid of democracy for nearly all of its independent history, Ukraine's parliamentary election Sunday has been hailed as a resounding achievement in creating a representative government, while at the same time appearing to have created new obstacles for the country's party leaders to overcome. \nAs international observers acclaimed it as the nation's most free and legitimate election, the country's voters failed to give any party a majority, and the splintered parties must now form coalitions before much of the new government can assemble. \nThousands of miles away from the former Soviet Union republic, IU has an invested interest in the election results as the campus plays host to the Parliamentary Development Project for Ukraine at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The project has been working with the Ukrainian government throughout the past several years to adopt new legislation to promote democratic principals. \nCharles Wise, the director of the project and a SPEA professor, said that while the official counts are not yet in, it is clear current Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party experienced a humbling third-place defeat, as opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych's party secured the most votes and political rival and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc finished second. \n"We now know that these are the parties that are going to be in negotiations to form the majority and will be nominating the new prime minister and cabinet ministers," Wise said. "And I think it will be a challenge for them to undertake these negotiations."\nAccording to the new constitutional legislation that PDP helped in part to adopt, a majority must be achieved to select the prime minster and other ministry positions. According to The Associated Press, most tracking polls put Yanukovych's lead at a little more than 27 percent, leaving his party far from a majority. \nIU graduate student and PDP member Dan J. Beers said he believes the most likely outcome is that despite Yanukovych's Party of Regions earning the most votes, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko will form an alliance to secure a majority in the government. The problem, Beers said, is that this coalition would be deeply fractured as the two leaders have substantially different beliefs in economic and reform policy. \nFreshman Bogdan Ignaschenko, who grew up and attended high school in Ukraine, said he has been watching the election closely over the past couple of days. He said he speculates a different coalition will be formed, but the result will be similar, saying that the coalition would be doomed from the start and it would only be a matter of time until it falls apart.\n"I believe that the Ukrainian people have demonstrated that they are not ready to handle a democracy," Ignaschenko said. "For the first time in Ukraine's history, the people were given a chance to vote in a truly free and democratic election ... yet they ended up voting for the same people."\nIf no coalitions are formed that make up a majority, Wise said after 60 days, the president can choose to call for new elections. \nDespite the growing consensus that the results of the election will cause controversy, friction and further political in-fighting, what is not being widely disputed is the legitimacy and democratic nature of the voting.\nJust two years ago in Ukraine's 2004 presidential election, the vote was marred with corruption and ballot stuffing. However, international observers and watchdog groups, including the PDP and the White House, have offered praise for the fairness and purity of the vote. \nWise said this election was a real step forward for Ukraine's progress toward building a true democracy, and despite isolated instances of complaints, the vote was a stark contrast to the 2004 election. \nBeers echoed Wise's statement. \n"We should not overlook the fact that these elections were judged to be essentially free and fair by international observers," Beers said. "That's a major achievement in Ukraine, and something worthy of praise, regardless of what one may think about the outcome"