KIEV, September 30. /ITAR-TASS/. The snap parliamentary election on October 26 is to be held in those areas in the country’s east that are controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, the Verkhovna Rada speaker said on Tuesday.
“In fact, election will take place only in those areas and cities where the situation is controlled by Ukraine’s troops and authorities,” Oleksandr Turchynov told reporters.
Turchynov said the election should not be held “under pressure”, stressing that observers and members of election commissions need to monitor the process. He said that this is impossible on the territories of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk republics. “This will be a farce and not the election, and the election process in this case will be discredited,” Turchynov said.
The head of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC), Mykhaylo Okhendovsky, said earlier on Tuesday that election can be held in 11 districts in the Donetsk region and 4 districts in the Luhansk region.
The previous parliamentary election in the Donetsk region was held in 21 constituencies and involved over 2,400 election commissions. In the Luhansk region, the election was conducted in 11 constituencies with participation of around 1,500 election commissions. Okhendovsky said election will be held only in “safe areas”.
September 30 is the last day to make election lists for the vote. Election results should be officially announced by November 10.
Last week, the Supreme Council of the DPR scheduled the local elections of the head and parliament for November 2. The vote is expected to be held simultaneously with the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR). Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced that Kiev is not planning to acknowledge the elections on the territory of the self-proclaimed republics.