DONETSK, November 2. /TASS/. International observers who monitored the Sunday elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have no censure to the organization of these elections, Alexander Brod, a member of the Russia president’s council on the development of civil society and human rights, told TASS.
“We (the observers) thinks that the DPR Central Election Commission has done its best to organize elections in the harsh conditions of warfare,” he said.
The observers, according to Brod, have only three critical remarks about the organization of these elections. Thus, “ballot paper were not protected, there were not enough polling stations to avoid queues, and the movements taking part in the elections commissioned no observers to polling stations,” he said, adding that this was explained by the “lack of experience.”
He noted the high voter turnout.
Elections were transparent and democratic, Jean-Luc Schanfhauser, an observer from France, said at a news conference European observers gave after the Sunday elections in the DPR.
He noted a great number of people willing to cast their votes at these elections. These people, in his words, were very motivated.
The French observer said that each polling station he had visited had lists of candidates to the head of republic and lists of public associations running for seats in the parliament.
Candidates for head of the Donetsk People’s Republic were incumbent Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko, First deputy speaker of the Novorossia parliament Alexander Kofman, and lawmakers of the DPR Supreme Council /legislature/ Yuri Sivokonenko.
According to exit poll results, Zakharchenko is winning the elections with 81.37% of the vote.
Seats in the DPR parliament were contested by the movements Donetsk Republic, with Alexander Zakharchenko topping its party ticket, and Free Donbass led by public activist Yevgeny Orlov.
The Donetsk Republic is winning 65.11% of votes, and Free Donbass - 34.8%, according to exit polls.