Ukraine's electoral commission publishes preliminary results

Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission has published the preliminary results of Sunday's parliamentary elections.

According to the current data (92.41 per cent of votes have been counted so far), the ruling Party of Regions got 31.1 percent of the votes, the main opposition party Fatherland (led by imprisoned former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko) got 24.77 percent of the votes, third was the UDAR bloc headed by boxer Vitaly Klichko, his party got 13. 61 percent. The Communist Party received 13.6 percent. The fifth party to enter the parliament is the nationalistic Freedom party, which received 9.95 percent of the votes cast.

The Party of Regions also won in the first-pass-the-post vote (One half of Ukrainian lawmakers are elected by plurality vote and the other by proportional vote). 

It seems that the coalition of the Party of Regions and the Communist party managed to secure their majority in the parliament.

The elections were criticized by international observers as unfree. The head of the European Parliament observers' delegation, Pawel Robert Kowal, said: “Ukraine, compared to other countries in the region, I mean countries which were part of the Soviet Union, maintains some democratic standards. Voters can indeed choose, and want to do so. On the other hand, things have regressed compared to 2010 or the 2007 elections,” Euronews reports.

While other international monitors also described the poll as a ‘‘backward step’‘ for democracy, supporters of Ukraine’s ruling Party of the Regions didn’t seem to mind. They celebrated their anticipated win well into Sunday night.