In a pre-term election mandated by Ukraine's Parliament, Kyiv's incumbent mayor Leonid Chernovetsky easily won another term in office over seventy other candidates.

Kyiv’s incumbent mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, has been re-elected to another term in office. The May 25, 2008 election was mandated by a March Parliamentary vote that following charges of bribery and corruption against Chernovetsky. In a preliminary announcement after polls closed, Secretary of the Kyiv City Electoral Commission Yuri Lozovsky said there are no signs of impropriety and the election is valid.

Voting Results

According to the Kyiv City Electoral Commission, 1,026 polling stations operated across the city during the election. The Commission estimated a voter turnout of only 53.39%.

Over seventy candidates participated in the Kyiv mayoral race, creating a ballot approximately one meter long. The following are the results after counting ballots from 934 polling stations:

• Leonid Chernovetsky (Chernovetsky Bloc) - 37.72%
• Oleksandr Turchynov (Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) - 19.08%
• Vitaliy Klitschko (Klitschko Bloc) - 17.96%
• Victor Pylypyshyn (Lytvyn Bloc) - 6.73%
• Mykola Katerynchuk (Our Ukraine) - 4.43%
• Vassyl Horbal (Party of Regions) - 2.54%
• Oleksandr Omelchenko (Omelchenko Bloc) - 2.37%
• Oleh Tyahnybok (All-Ukrainian Union “Freedom”)- 1.38%
• Oleksandr Pabat (Civic Activists of Ukraine) - 1.35%

Thirty-seven political parties and blocs participated in the election for city council deputies. After votes were counted from 959 polling stations, the following groups gained enough support to win seats in the Kyiv City Council:

• Chernovetskyi Bloc - 30.50%
• Tymoshenko Bloc - 22.80%
• Klitschko Bloc - 10.60%
• Lytvyn Bloc - 8.14%
• Civil Activists of Kyiv - 5.94%
• Party of Regions - 3.95%
• Katerynchuk Bloc - 3.47%

Effect of Democratic Divisions

Many people thought this election was a golden opportunity for the Democratic coalition to seize political control of Ukraine’s capital. However, the two democratic groups, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine People’s Self Defense Bloc, can find no common ground, not even a single candidate for Kyiv’s mayoral election.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko claimed the day before the election that her bloc’s Alexander Turchynov was the single candidate of the democratic “Orange” forces. However, Nikolai Katerynchuk, a member of Our Ukraine, called himself the single “Orange” candidate. Former boxer Vitaly Klitschko was also considered a Democratic candidate.

With several Democratic candidates on the ballot, voters had too many choices, allowing the incumbent Chernovetsky to easily win another term in office. The “Orange” forces would have had a much better chance at victory with a single candidate.

Election Analysis

The election campaign was immensely expensive. Experts calculated total campaign expenditures at $200 million. With no changes occurring in the structure of Kyiv’s government, the entire election process will be viewed as a waste of time and financial resources.

Kyiv’s election was expected to reveal trends that will carry over to Ukraine’s 2010 Presidential election. If this is true, the results will be seen as a stunning defeat and major failure for Tymoshenko, whose political bloc threatened to walk out of Parliament if lawmakers did not call for the new election.

Tymoshenko believed she wielded enough influence to carry her Vice-Prime Minister to victory. She may be extremely popular in many areas of Ukraine, but this election revealed Tymoshenko’s influence is not that great. Tymoshenko was unable to accomplish for Turchynov what Vladimir Putin did for Dmitry Medvedev in Russia.

References

“Almost half of Kyiv residents neglected mayor election.” Unian News Agency. May 26, 2008.

“Kievans start electing city mayor, 70 aspirants running for office.” ITAR-TASS. May 25, 2008.

“Total turnout at Kyiv election made 53.39%” Unian News Agency. May 27, 2008.

“Ukraine: Confounding “Orange” Hopes, Eccentric Incumbent Set To Win In Early Mayoral Vote.” Radio Free Europe. May 26, 2008.