The Foundation for the Protection of National Values presented to journalists the report “Kiev authorities against the people”, dedicated to the results of the presidential elections in Ukraine. The experts of the Foundation analyzed in detail the main violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens and the media.
“We outlined the facts of interference from various Western NGOs, diplomatic agencies in the course of the campaign, and the motivation of the image of Russia as an enemy, a huge number of PR technologies were associated with this,” said Alexander Malkevich, President of the Foundation.
The head of the Foundation noted that several million citizens simply could not vote, Russian observers were not allowed to the polling stations, and Russian journalists were not allowed to fully cover the campaign.
“The Report presents a very serious selection of the most notorious cases of infringement of the rights of Russian and Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine, infringement of the rights of journalists, the brightest legislative initiatives that were aimed at infringing the rights of Ukrainians, the most Russophobic statements of the Ukrainian authorities. In addition, it tells about the most famous political prisoners and the blatant facts of oppression of journalists”, added Alexander Malkevich.
The facts gathered under one cover, in his words, create an oppressive impression. The head of the Foundation expressed the hope that the report translated into the main UN languages will make a serious impression on Ukraine’s foreign partners, and also open the eyes of those who talk a lot about democracy and what is happening next to them.
Participants of the round table, held in the press center of the Parliamentary Newspaper, shared their views on the past elections and scenarios for the development of political processes in Ukraine.
Member of the Public Council of the Foundation for the Protection of National Values, a writer, leader of the Patriots of the Great Fatherland movement, Nikolay Starikov noted that there is no reason to talk about fair and free elections in that part of Donbass, which is under the control of Kiev.
The expert also believes that Vladimir Zelensky, who was elected president of Ukraine, plays “silent” – he tries not to speak out on any pressing issues. On his behalf, certain speakers speak or there are statements coming from his team.
“In my opinion, not man won in Ukraine, but technology. There is no pre-election program, no ideas what to do next. There is a desire to keep silence longer so as not to lose the sympathy of some part of the electorate,” says Nikolay Starikov.
The true face of the new Ukrainian government, in his opinion, will be visible after the elections to the Verkhovna Rada and “we will not like it”.
Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin believes that a significant part of the citizens of Ukraine voted because of hopelessness for a person who did not do politics which is understandable. In his opinion, it is also possible that the majority of Ukrainians voted for the hero of the series “The Servant of the People” Goloborodko.
“But the fact that the Zelensky’s team, as it turns out, built the script for the fourth season of the television movie, believing that this is the leadership of the country, makes me very worried. After all, the best scenario differs from real life in that in real life, the script is written not by one team, but different actors, with different finals, beneficial to one team or another”, said Vladimir Zharikhin.
He also believes that the elected president is a shame for Ukraine and the complete failure of its political elite, since the population refused to trust her and chose from despair someone who is absolutely unprepared to conduct real political activity.
Director of the Institute of Russia Abroad Sergey Panteleev noted that if the elections were really clean, the second round would have looked different: he noted Yulia Tymoshenko’s actual disengagement, which looks like an attempt to show “Western friends” the democratic and transparent election process. He also agreed that the victory of Zelensky is the victory of technology.
“This technology was run-in earlier (most recent is the campaign of Emmanuel Macron), but in the Ukrainian context the virtual part is even more pronounced. And it will not end after the elections” he believes.
The expert also believes that the scenario of the new season is ready, but if Petro Poroshenko had the system “Russia is the aggressor”, that is the image of an external enemy, then Zelensky adds an image of an internal enemy.
“It will consist of the so-called old system – corruption, oligarchs, former politicians, parliament, which is formed under the old system, which will resist, but which must be dispersed. These two blocks will provide stability for a certain perspective,” says Sergey Panteleev. However, in his opinion, it can last only about a year.
The weakening of international suffrage worries Igor Borisov, chairman of the board of the All-Russian public organization Russian Public Electoral Law Institute.
“All procedures are carried out to the detriment of the rule of law, they are more implicated in politics, geopolitics, and conducting shows, which unfortunately do not combine well with real life. We see that in Ukraine they were ready to vote for anyone, just to not see what the current government led to,” he stressed.
He added that the international observers turned a blind eye to violations for political reasons.
The political scientist also believes that Zelensky “is doing his performance, not realizing that reality is not a show.”
“The reality is the compliance with the obligations undertaken to the international organizations, the compliance of human rights and freedoms, which unfortunately Zelensky’s team does not want to take into account now. They are moving towards their goal, knowing full well that the West has less pressure on them than Poroshenko’s team,” he expressed the fears of human rights defenders.
In his opinion, the appearance of such reports, as presented at the round table, should show what actually happened in Ukraine and what this is fraught with for the Ukrainian people in the near future.
Alexander Malkevich also believes that the violation of rights and freedoms in Ukraine will continue, but will be “at a qualitatively different, much more creative level than the outgoing regime,” and this is the most alarming.
