Local elections are
being held across Ukraine on Sunday. Throughout the election campaign numerous
candidates have been caught in frauds and corruption, La Croix reported.
According
to the article, recently, strange street vendors have been spotted
in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, selling very cheap food on the
behalf of some political parties. For instance, Petro Poroshenko Bloc
"Solidarity" is giving away packs of flour.
"All the powerful candidates are trying to buy
votes. We know they gave food to pensioners. Now we are afraid that they
would pay to students. They will mark ballots and will manipulate the
vote," Vadim Golovenko, an observer, told La Croix.
In Dnepropetrovsk and many other Ukrainian cities,
frauds, corruption and intimidation are a regular practice, the article read.
After Ukraine adopted its decentralization laws giving
control over regional budgets to local authorities, the struggle
for power in Ukrainian regions has intensified.
"Despite the maidan revolution, we have the same
politicians. The same rascals, with no ideology and no principles,"
political analyst Viktoria Polyanskaya was quoted as saying by La
Croix.
Nearly every mayoral candidate in Dnepropetrovsk is
supported by an oligarch, according to the article. Billionaires who
have been controlling Ukraine since the middle-1990s usually support one
or several candidates via non-governmental organizations, analyst and
local broadcasters they own.
"It is impossible to gain access
to independent information, and some issues are strictly censored. The
only hope is that our society would keep an eye on those who will win the
elections," journalist Zoyz Krasovskaya told La Croix.
Source: Sputnik News 25-10-2015
