At the same time, wish him lick. People also thought Manny Pacquiao was in over his head with Philippines politics
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Ukraine is preparing for its parliamentary elections on October 28th. The main question is as old as Ukrainian history: will it be a transparent and fare election by western standards or will the ruling party use questionable methods to win their seats in Parliament?
The main players in this election are the government’s Party of Regions and the United Opposition party, Fatherland (Batkivshchyna).
In addition to those, there is UDAR (Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms), lead by famous Ukrainian boxer, Vitali Klitschko, the Communist Party and about thirty other smaller groups.
With Yulia Tymoshenko, former prime minister and the leader of the opposition, in prison, her party is still remarkably strong.
Tymoshenko is serving her seven-year term over a gas deal with Russia and abuse of the office – charges that she denies.
Kyiv, Ukraine The government officially intends to follow the standards necessary for democratic elections.
In light of somewhat strained relationship with the US and Europe, Ukraine, still leaning towards European integration, wants to make a good impression.
Fatherland United Opposition (Batkivshchyna) comes second with 19.4% support, and Klitschko’s UDAR – the name translates into English as “Punch” or “Strike” – has 16.6%.
Klitschko, who is not an experienced politician but is full or energy and optimism, had mentioned in a phone interview with Forbes that “politics in Ukraine is a fight with no rules.”
As an international boxing champion, he – with his victories in the boxing ring – has done much more for the image of Ukraine in the world than any Ukrainian politician.
Popular among Ukrainians, he and his party get very close to United Opposition.
There is enough information that the elections are not going to be as transparent and honest as the west would like it to be.
The effort is now on channeling whatever is left into a democratic and credible process.
When the Party of Regions wins this Sunday, just like in Putin’s case during the presidential elections in Russia, it won’t be the result of possible electoral fraud and violations only.
Ukrainian people do have a say, and the election results will reflect their votes, whether it would be out of hopelessness, indifference, the search for some kind of stability or simply being uninformed.
But since we’re playing democracy, let’s accept the idea that the result of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine are unknown and might still bring some surprises this weekend.
Article written by:
Katya Soldak Contributor
Prison, Boxing, and Fair Elections - Forbes
Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/katyasoldak/2012/10/26/prison-boxing-and-fair-elections/
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