KYIV POST

18 January 2010

OSCE observers have said that the election laws of Ukraine must be improved and brought in line with the international norms and standards, Heidi Tagliavini, the head of the election observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, has said.

"We would like to note that although some laws were adopted [in Ukraine's election legislation] ... nevertheless we insist that the legislative base must be brought in line with international norms," she said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

Joao Soares, the president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Special Coordinator of the OSCE short-term observers, noted that the Venice Commission had previously elaborated rather clear recommendations regarding the improvement of the election legislation and "we would be happy if these recommendations were taken into consideration."

Matyas Eorsi, the head of the delegation of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, in turn, noted the need for a general election code in Ukraine.

Assen Agov, the head of the delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said that some representatives of the mass media during the presidential election campaign in the country often made materials rather "for financial interests than in the interests of truth and democratic freedom."

Agov also said that the legislation should be amended so as to resolve this issue, which would give the state committee for television and radio broadcasting and the Central Election Commission real levers of influence on those representatives of the mass media that violate election law during the presidential campaign.