Dick Lugar: “On September 30, the people of Ukraine will return to the ballot box to vote in critical parliamentary elections. I rise…”

“On September 30, the people of Ukraine will return to the ballot box to vote in critical parliamentary elections. I rise today to express my hope that Ukraine preserves and extends the tremendous accomplishments they have achieved in establishing a stable and representative government. I was privileged to represent our country as President Bush's personal representative for the November 21, 2004, presidential runoff election in Ukraine. I was not an advocate of either candidate in the election. My focus was to stress free and fair election procedures that would strengthen worldwide respect for the legitimacy of the winning candidate. The 2004 campaign for president in Ukraine had been marked by widespread political intimidation and failure to give equal coverage to candidates in the media. Physical intimidation of voters and illegal use of governmental administrative and legal authorities had been evident and persistent. Unfortunately the situation worsened on the day of the runoff election. The government of then-President Kuchma allowed, or aided and abetted, wholesale fraud and abuse that changed the results of the election. It was clear that Prime Minister Yanukovich, a position that he again holds today, did not win the 2004 election despite erroneous election announcements and calls of congratulations from Moscow.”