What the candidates’ political promises are worth. The pre-election situation in Volyn one month before the elections

Monitoring of the formation and activity of local authorities in the transition period (2005-2006)

NOMINATION AND REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES FOR DEPUTIES AND CANDIDATES FOR THE POST OF CITY MAYOR During the reporting period, in accordance with Art. 39, para. 1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Elections of Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Local Councils and Village, Settlement, City Heads", local organizations of political parties and election blocs timely nominated candidates for deputies to the Lutsk City Council. 36 local organizations of parties and election blocs, whose lists of candidates for deputies were registered by the TEC, timely, i.e. by February 13 of this year, submitted the necessary documents for registration of candidates in the multi-mandate constituency. On February 21 of this year, the Lutsk City TEC held a draw regarding the order of placement of the names of local organizations of parties (blocs) on the ballot and the order of granting airtime to authorized persons of local organizations of parties (blocs). 474 candidates from 36 local organizations of parties (blocs) are ready to compete for deputy mandates to the Lutsk City Council. The TEC registered candidates for deputies of the Lutsk City Council from the following party and bloc cells: "Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc", People's Democratic Party, Ukrainian People's Bloc of Kostenko and Plyushch, Political Party "Third Force", Communist Party of Ukraine, "Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak!", Party of Development, Legal Protection of Non-Governmental Organizations of Ukraine "Party of Legal Protection", "Yuriy Karmazin Bloc", Socialist Party of Ukraine, Ukrainian National Assembly, "Lytvyn People's Bloc", People's Movement of Ukraine for Unity, URP "Sobor", "Party of Ecological Salvation "EKO+25%", Party of Regions, Civil Bloc "PORA-PRP", "Lazarenko Bloc", Party of Patriotic Forces of Ukraine, Christian Democratic Party of Ukraine, Party of Pensioners of Ukraine, Bloc "Our Ukraine", party "Labor Ukraine", bloc "Yevhen Marchuk "Unity", party "Conscience of Ukraine", Ukrainian Party of Honor, Combating Corruption and Organized Crime, Natalia Vitrenko Bloc "People's Opposition", party "Revival", Party of Greens of Ukraine, Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, Social-Ecological Party "Union. Chornobyl. Ukraine", Party of National-Economic Development of Ukraine, All-Ukrainian Association "Svoboda", Ihor Huz Bloc "National Alliance", Ukrainian Party "Green Planet", Democratic Party of Ukraine, bloc "Power of the People". Among the most ambitious participants in the pre-election race for seats in the Lutsk City Council, whose representative composition is 45 deputies, were such political forces as: election bloc "Our Ukraine" (44 candidates for deputies), "Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc" (35 candidates), Ukrainian People's Bloc of Kostenko and Plyushch (29), Civil Bloc "PORA-PRP" (23 candidates for deputies), election bloc "Lytvyn People's Bloc" (23). The least ambitious city organizations of political parties (blocs) turned out to be "Lazarenko Bloc" (4 candidates), Christian Democratic Party (5 candidates), Natalia Vitrenko Bloc "People's Opposition" (5 candidates), Social-Ecological Party "Union. Chornobyl. Ukraine" (5 candidates), Party of National-Economic Development of Ukraine (3 candidates), Party "Green Planet" (4 candidates), "Party of Ecological Salvation Ecological Salvation "Eko+25" (4 candidates). No cases of inclusion of the same person in the lists of several parties (blocs) were recorded.

The Lutsk TEC for the elections of deputies of the city council and city mayor, in accordance with Part 5 of Art. 41 of the Law of Ukraine "On Elections of Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Local Councils and Village, Settlement, City Heads", registered 14 candidates for the post of Lutsk city mayor. The following candidates decided to compete for the mayor's seat among self-nominees: incumbent Lutsk city mayor Anton Kryvytskyi, first deputy city mayor Sviatoslav Kravchuk, director of the private enterprise "Piarkom", member of the NRU for Unity Oleksandr Hil, general director of the VODP of the State Joint-Stock Company "Bread of Ukraine" Volodymyr Zhhutov, general director of the private firm "Anton", member of the party VO "Batkivshchyna" Oleh Boiko, director of LLC "Alex Life" Oleksandr Hlavatskyi, head of the Public Anti-Corruption Committee of Lutsk Inna Reikina, first deputy head of the Volyn Regional State Administration, member of the party VO "Batkivshchyna" Bohdan Shyba. Among the candidates nominated by decisions of city inter-party and party conferences were the following contenders for the post of Lutsk city mayor: physician-ordinator of the vascular surgery department of the Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital Volodymyr Lytvyniuk (nominated by the inter-party conference of city organizations of parties "VO "Batkivshchyna" and USDP from city organizations of parties of the election bloc "Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc"), director of motor transport and woodworking enterprises, entrepreneur Yevhen Melnyk (nominated by the Lutsk city inter-party conference of the Ukrainian People's Bloc of Kostenko and Plyushch), entrepreneur Mykola Kucherenko (nominated by the conference of the Lutsk city organization of the Socialist Party of Ukraine), head of the Volyn regional department for consumer rights protection Hennadii Kozhenikov (nominated by the conference of the Lutsk city organization of the Ukrainian Republican Party "Sobor"), private attorney Oleh Maksymovych (nominated by the conference of the Lutsk city organization of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists), entrepreneur Oleh Chernetskyi (nominated by the conference of the Lutsk city organization of the Party of Patriotic Forces of Ukraine).

LOCAL PROGRAMS OF CANDIDATES FOR DEPUTIES TO THE LUTSK CITY COUNCIL

The scope of substance of pre-election promises of candidates for deputies to the Lutsk City Council programmatically boils down to the following aspects of the problems of development of Lutsk and the territorial community of the city: development of local self-government, public control over authorities and overcoming corruption, improvement of the situation in the social sphere (education, social protection - housing, medicine, ecology), improvement of the situation in the communal sphere and the sphere of communications (improvement of the provision of communal services, benefits for communal services, improvement of the condition of roads, residential buildings, telephone communication services, expansion of motor transport routes), programs for the development of small and medium-sized businesses. The pre-election promises of candidates for deputies from local cells of parties (blocs) in the context of the development of local self-government represent a deficit of initiatives and ideas on specific proposals for reforming and developing local self-government, limited to general declarative-abstract ideas, partly duplicating the all-Ukrainian political programs of parties (blocs). For example, "Election Bloc "Yevhen Marchuk - "Unity" emphasizes: "excessively monopolized power must be replaced by real people's power with comprehensively developed local self-government. At the center of all reforms must be the person and the community", "decentralization of state administration and development of local self-government - the main direction of transformation of public power". The Civil Bloc "PORA-PRP in the city of Lutsk" offers the voter "the creation of a city management base founded on full-fledged local self-government, with a clear distribution of powers and corresponding stable sources of income", a similar program thesis is the position of the City Organization "BYuT" - transformation of "local self-government into real power, expansion of its powers and correct determination of funding sources". The Lutsk organization of the Democratic Party of Ukraine also advocates "expansion of the powers of local self-government bodies". The bloc "Ne Tak!" offers the city executive power "consultations with political and public organizations" when making government decisions. The NRU for Unity proposes for Lutsk's success to "develop a city statute", "create a department of interaction between local authorities and city residents", and the party "Third Force" advocates "development of a long-term strategy for the development of the city of Lutsk" and combining the efforts of all Lutsk residents to create a "powerful brand "Lutsk". Calls of political parties (blocs) for public control through the prism of categoricalness in the vision of overcoming corruption are noticed among the program documents of the Ihor Huz Bloc "National Alliance", where emphasis is placed on "bringing to criminal responsibility corrupt officials of the Lutsk city executive committee", "introduction of public declaration of incomes by employees of the Lutsk city executive committee including the city mayor and city council deputies"; LMO NRU for Unity offers voters "to overcome corruption in local self-government bodies through a system of public control"; the Bloc "Our Ukraine" where it is stated that "officials will become interested not in bribes and fines, but in ensuring that business in Lutsk works legally, in accordance with the requirements established by current legislation"; the Volyn regional organization of the CDPU proposes "introduction of a system of constant public control over the activities of authorities and a mechanism for combating corruption and organized crime"; "BYuT" in its program guarantees "strict adherence to legislation regarding objective information, independence of journalists from authorities and capital", creation of "independent public television, radio broadcasting and press". More radical is the position of VO "Svoboda" - "for conducting a large-scale two-way audit check of the activities of the Lutsk city executive committee and its structural subdivisions, especially in terms of the use of budget funds, with the participation of the Main Control and Revision Department and independent auditors, conducting a legal examination of the legality of decisions of the Lutsk City Council, especially in terms of privatization of communal property"; the CPU "will resolutely fight corruption, bribery, abuse of office by officials"; "Greens of Lutsk" advocate "transparency of power, for public control over power". The Lutsk MPO "Party of Ecological Salvation "EKO+25%" promises "uncompromising fight against corruption, selflessness in performing the duties of a deputy, systematic reporting to voters about their work"; "Civil Bloc PORA-PRP in the city of Lutsk believes that "local bureaucracy is not interested in creating city infrastructure..., however, the city bureaucracy observes formal "rules of the game" ...in conditions of electability of local self-government bodies", therefore candidates for the city council from this bloc advocate "transparency and accountability of local bureaucracy in all spheres through the development of a system of public hearings, public consultations", and the city organization of the Party of Regions is against "irresponsible decisions and actions, contrived social experiments and radicalism", advocates "transfer of power to highly professional and responsible specialists, "conducting personnel policy". In the programs of such parties (blocs) as the bloc "Power of the People", SPU, "BYuT", the topic of abolishing the institution of parliamentary immunity is raised. The initiative of systematic reporting of LSG bodies to the territorial community of the city is proposed by the Bloc "Ne Tak!", KUN. The positions of political parties (blocs) regarding the improvement of the situation in the social sphere boil down to promises in the field of education - establishment of local budget scholarships for youth internships abroad (Bloc "Our Ukraine"), budget allocations for education, social sphere (LMO "Conscience of Ukraine"), expansion of opportunities for obtaining higher education through the introduction of mechanisms for providing individual loans" ("Lytvyn People's Bloc", Party of Regions); medicine - creation in Lutsk of a rapid response service "911" (Ihor Huz Bloc "National Alliance"), free medical care in communal health care institutions, material support for disabled persons, orphans, large families ("Yuriy Karmazin Bloc"), creation of infrastructure for recreation and health improvement ("NRU for Unity"), accessible and quality treatment for Lutsk residents, proper level of disease prevention, at the expense of budget, social, insurance and other financial resources (Bloc "Our Ukraine"), prevention of reduction of the existing network of medical institutions" (Party of Patriotic Forces of Ukraine), introduction of preferential medication provision and medical care (NDP), opening of a polyclinic in the DPZ district, support for the development of the family doctors system (URP "Sobor"), provision of free quality medical care, control of medicine prices (CPU), increase of state funding to 10% of GDP and increase of funds in the budget of Lutsk, introduction of family doctors (Ukrainian People's Bloc of Kostenko-Plyushch), an effective medical insurance system ("Election Bloc "Yevhen Marchuk - "Unity); social protection - preservation of benefits and compensations for the older generation, veterans, persons affected by the Chornobyl catastrophe, children of war, other socially unprotected segments of the population; effective implementation of the state program of social and professional adaptation of military servicemen ("Yuriy Karmazin Bloc"), Bloc "Our Ukraine" will solve the problem of unemployment, improve social protection of the city population in terms of targeting ("Party of Legal Protection"), SPU will direct special care to social protection of veterans and children of war, disabled persons, internationalist soldiers and Chornobyl victims; housing - increase in the volume of introduction of new housing, reconstruction and major repair of existing housing stock ("Yuriy Karmazin Bloc", "Lytvyn Bloc"), a real opportunity for young families to receive support in construction and purchase of housing (targeted, mortgage lending, introduction of mechanisms for renting state and municipal housing) (Bloc "Our Ukraine"), construction of small-family apartments for youth and low-income segments of the population, accessibility of youth lending (NDP, "BYuT"). Program promises on the development of small and medium-sized businesses and the issue of land privatization in the pre-election messages of candidates cover the problems of stopping the practice of seizure and illegal construction of lands in Lutsk (Ihor Huz Bloc "National Alliance"); reduction of tax pressure on business entities; ensuring accelerated growth of the industrial potential of the city (LMO of the Party of Defenders of the Fatherland and "National-Democratic Association Ukraine"), the Bloc "NE TAK" advocates publication of lists of enterprises and objects that were illegally privatized in the city, "Our Ukraine" will encourage investment in the development of enterprises in Lutsk, and the new government will support start-up entrepreneurs, businessmen, promote the creation of new jobs by introducing a regime of maximum assistance to the development of small and medium-sized businesses and simplifying the procedure for registration, reporting, inspections, obtaining permits, a similar position is taken by URP "Sobor", which advocates the removal of barriers to business development, prompt and transparent granting of permits for construction, reconstruction and privatization of land, favorable conditions for investors in all sectors and districts; cessation of the practice of artificially creating a positive image of the authorities at the expense of entrepreneurs ("Party of Legal Protection"), the People's Democratic Party advocates an economically justified value of land, its sale through auction, "Lytvyn People's Bloc" promises to assist small enterprises in obtaining unused premises and land plots for production use, the Party of Regions proposes to introduce a transparent tax system, tax stability, eliminate tax arbitrariness, "Civil Bloc "PORA-PRP" advocates the creation of equal conditions for competition, removal of bureaucratic obstacles to entrepreneurial activity, BYuT claims that everyone will pay taxes, VAT will be abolished, the salary tax minimized, the profit tax - brought out of the shadows, strict control will be established over the leasing of land within the city, its value will be set fairly. Promises to improve the situation in the communal sphere - the Opposition Bloc "Ne Tak!" will contribute to the completion of the construction of the overpass (Railway Station - Za vokzalnyi market), and the underground passage, the transfer of all dormitories of the city of Lutsk into city communal ownership with the right of privatization by the people living in them, the Bloc "Our Ukraine" promises that repairs of buildings, streets and other improvement measures will affect every district, creation of a competitive environment for providers of communal services, the "Party of Legal Protection" will initiate the completion of the reconstruction of the main water intake of the city for the purpose of purifying drinking water according to European standards, completion of the modernization of lighting, reconstruction of heating networks and compilation of an energy passport for each building, use of cogeneration systems that simultaneously produce thermal and electrical energy, URP "Sobor" proposes to develop a general plan for the development of Lutsk, reform housing and communal services, identify providers of housing and communal services and conclude appropriate agreements with the population, promote the creation of homeowners' associations, "Lytvyn People's Bloc" considers it necessary to carry out certification of roads in Lutsk, determine a strategy for financing their construction and reconstruction, LMO VO "Svoboda" advocates the introduction of energy-saving technologies in the system of KP "Lutskteplo", interest-free provision of loans from the city budget for the installation of autonomous entrance heating systems, gradual replacement of the city's water supply and sewerage systems in the next 15 years, "Civil Bloc "PORA-PRP" insists on the growth of investments in communal economy, transport, communications, and, as a result, improvement of the quality of services to the population, "BYuT" proposes to improve the railway connection system in the city of Lutsk, solve transport problems of overloading Vynnychenka Street, Sobornosti and Voli avenues, reduce communal tariffs through the introduction of energy-saving technologies.

Pre-election programs of candidates for the post of Lutsk city mayor

Calls for public control over power and overcoming corruption - Volodymyr Lytvyniuk declares "transparency and control by the community over the work of all structural subdivisions of the executive committee, which, according to the latter, is "the key to filling the budget and building a truly European city"; Yevhen Melnyk considers "clear functioning of all services responsible for this" to be "key in ensuring basic conditions for the city's life", "destruction of corruption schemes" through the implementation of a "special anti-corruption program"; Oleksandr Hil considers it necessary for the city's success "to overcome corruption in local self-government bodies through the creation of a system of public control"; Oleh Boiko considers logical and staged "transition from the current city management system to a system that is transparent and makes corruption impossible", "adoption of all decisions under the supervision of deputy commissions, familiarization of the city public with the results of roll-call voting", Oleh Maksymovych categorically declares the following: "I will not take bribes and will not allow officials of local authorities to do so"; Oleh Chernetskyi advocates "mandatory submission of annual declarations on expenses" by officials; Inna Reikina in the context of public control and combating corruption in power echelons declares "uncompromising fight against formalism and corruption - bonuses for detecting bribery among officials, investigation of facts of embezzlement of the city in previous years", "public certification of city officials annually. Quarterly public reports of officials on citizens' appeals; Promises to improve the situation in the social sphere - Anton Kryvytskyi in the sphere of providing social guarantees emphasizes "reorientation to targeting of social services - only to those who need them and, mainly - with services", "implementation of local programs to overcome poverty, orphanhood and comfortable access to city infrastructure for people with limited physical abilities", "equal access to medical services for all citizens, development of insurance and family medicine", Volodymyr Lytvyniuk in the social protection section advocates "creation of jobs through programs of city enterprises of communal ownership, as well as in the service sector", in the medical field - "implementation of medical certification of the population for the purpose of identifying the level of morbidity and timely provision of medical care", "free examination of disabled persons, elderly people on medical equipment", in the educational field "promotion of the development of the system of financial education", Oleksandr Hil emphasizes "the creation of infrastructure for recreation and health improvement of people", Volodymyr Zhhutov "will take care that every family has a decent apartment", and Oleh Boiko in the field of employment proposes "gradually exclude from registration at the Employment Center persons who can but do not want to work legally", Hennadii Kozhevnykov in the field of social protection proposes "to support benefits for patrons who finance social programs of the city", "to arrange places for homeless people", "to promote youth employment", in the educational field "to create a fund to support the activities of artists", in the field of health care "to open a polyclinic in the DPZ district", Oleh Chernetskyi proposes for youth "equal access to preferential lending for housing purchase", "for pensioners - decent pension provision and deserved benefits; provision of jobs for those willing to work with tax benefits provided for this", Oleksandr Hlavatskyi initiates "to create a store with a 20% discount for disabled persons, veterans, students, large and low-income families on essential goods and all Lutsk-made products", "in each of the buildings being constructed in the city, 10% of the area of residential and office premises to be transferred to the city council fund to provide apartments and office premises for teachers, medical workers, cultural workers", "to direct 10% of the city budget growth to targeted assistance and support programs for veterans, disabled persons, pregnant women, large and low-income families", Inna Reikina proposes "development and implementation of a program to provide hospitals with free and inexpensive medicines for low-income people", "development and implementation of a program for the construction of cheap housing for youth", and Bohdan Shyba "will fundamentally change the system of preferential long-term lending for housing construction for employees of budget institutions and organizations. Construction of social housing at budget expense for homeless people". Promises to improve the situation in the communal sphere and the sphere of communications - Anton Kryvytskyi proposes "legislative definition of ownership in multi-apartment buildings, professional management of this property, completion of the program for building-level accounting of revenues and expenditures of funds, installation of a system for accounting of all energy carriers, technical re-equipment of boiler houses and heating networks", Volodymyr Lytvyniuk proposes "streamlining the public transport route scheme, which will allow unloading part of the city. Construction of new trolleybus lines", "promotion of the creation of associations of co-owners of multi-apartment buildings", "introduction of energy-saving technologies", Yevhen Melnyk will work on such issues as: "renewal of water and heat supply systems in the city", "creation of parity in the development of the center and outskirts", support for the activities of building committees", "stimulation of investments in major road repairs", equal lighting of the city", "support for the elevator service, including through the proposal to create an elevator plant in Lutsk", "waste utilization", "reforming the communal economy system and reorienting it to a competitive environment of private contractors", Mykola Kucherenko among the priorities of his program considers "uninterrupted work on providing quality communal and transport services", "to develop and approve a general plan for the city's development with comprehensive consideration of its residents' proposals", "to fundamentally change the organization of housing and communal services work", Oleksandr Hil among the "10 steps to the city's success" sees "to reform housing and communal services", "to complete the construction of socially important objects (the bridge between the railway station and the za vokzalnyi market", Volodymyr Zhhutov states that "Long-term construction projects will be 'unfrozen': the long-awaited bridge-overpass connecting the railway station with the Za vokzalnyi market will be completed, as well as the construction of the regional children's polyclinic", Hennadii Kozhevnikov proposes "to reform housing and communal services", "to identify providers of housing and communal services and conclude appropriate agreements with the population", to promote the creation of homeowners' associations", Oleh Boiko under "effective and painless for city residents reform of the communal sector - stimulation of the creation of associations of co-owners of apartments in multi-apartment buildings, transition to tariffs in the communal sphere that guarantee quality of services and stable development, development of alternative providers of communal services", Oleh Chernetskyi in the sphere of communal services advocates "compliance with price and quality; promotion of associations of co-owners of buildings", Oleksandr Hlavatskyi in the field of housing and communal services promises "to ensure uninterrupted operation of the duty service of the city council, clear operation of all communal services, instant response to all justified demands of city residents", "to reduce the number of accidents of heating and electrical networks, for which to conduct their inventory in advance and necessary preventive repair", Inna Reikina emphasizes: "ZHEKs for people, not people for ZHEKs" - creation of a service for quality control of communal services. Increase of material support for ZHEKs. Support for homeowners' associations", Bohdan Shyba promises to change "throwing money at pothole repair of streets to modern methods of quality major repair of road surface", emphasizes "differentiation of tariffs for housing and communal services by level of provision and size of living area of housing owners".

AGITATION IN LOCAL ELECTIONS

During the reporting period, party (bloc) cells conducted such forms of agitation as: meetings, gatherings, visits of VIP persons (Party of Regions, Civil Bloc "Pora"-PRP", Ukrainian People's Bloc "Kostenko-Plyushch", election bloc "Our Ukraine", Party of Greens,).

During the reporting period, local organizations of some political parties (blocs) and some candidates for the post of Lutsk city mayor violated the rules for the use of pre-election agitation, in particular in part 7 and 9 of Art. 52 of the Law of Ukraine". Thus, in the agitation tents of one of the candidates for the post of Lutsk city mayor, agitation leaflets without imprint data were distributed in favor of the latter. In the city, a systematic tendency is observed of posting posters and leaflets of other candidates for the post of Lutsk city mayor and individual political parties (blocs) in places not designated for the placement of visual printed agitation, which contradicts part 9 of Art. 52 of the Law of Ukraine "On Elections of Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Local Councils and Village, Settlement, City Heads". No cases of "black PR" in the agitation campaigns of subjects of the election process were observed, however, posted leaflets of anti-advertising and provocative content were noticed: "Vote for well-being! Prosperity! Justice exists!", where the numbers of candidates in the list of "Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc" are published in accordance with material wealth. The leaflets also mention the surnames of such candidates for people's deputies: Khmelnytskyi, Feldman, Zhevaho, Hunskyi, Vasadze and Kruk. The leaflets are made "as political advertising of BYuT" and have imprint data (Print run 5000).

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN LOCAL ELECTIONS Tendencies of program filling of "News" of local television companies with broadcasts of advertising image clips with political leaders during the observation period were not noticed. As before, among some print media there is a tendency of filling with image and agitation materials in favor of a certain candidate or political force, which is actually hidden political advertising. In a separate newspaper, material was printed that constitutes outright political advertising of one of the candidates for the post of city mayor, part 3 of Art. 50 of the Law of Ukraine "On Elections of Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Local Councils and Village, Settlement, City Heads" was violated.