Ukraine goes to the polls for local elections with national stakes
The Covid-19 epidemic is one of the challenges of local elections in Ukraine.
Here, a passerby in front of an election poster, in Kiev on October 23, 2020. Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Ukrainians are called to the polls this Sunday, October 25 for municipal, cantonal and regional elections.
Most of the mayors of large cities and regional barons could be reappointed, inflicting a snub on President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is declining in popularity.
As in Lviv, the country's fifth largest city, these local political reconfigurations could precede a national change.
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With our special correspondent in Lviv,
Sébastien Gobert
The vote on Sunday morning begins with a temperature
measurement
: “
36.6 degrees
!
», Announces the agent, who at the entrance of each polling station quickly checks the state of health of the voters.
Because the coronavirus is wreaking havoc in Ukraine
and it is one of the issues of the ballot.
This vote was also made very important by the process of decentralization of power, which increases the budgets of local authorities.
It is also the first time that Ukrainians have voted with a new electoral code recently adopted.
Volodymyr confides that he is not very sure of himself: "
I did not have much time to familiarize myself with the rules
", admits this early voter.
At least Volodymyr says he knows who to vote for.
Test
In this city in western Ukraine, 16 candidates face the mayor Andriy Sadoviy, in office since 2006. Being part of the barons who monopolize regional political life, he is credited for the tourist development of the city, but is also very criticized.
“
In Lviv, the problems of corruption in the municipality and illegal constructions have increased,
” explains Oleksiy Antipovich, director of the polling institute Rating.
Andriy Sadoviy could however keep his seat thanks to the fragmentation of the opposition.
However, in Lviv as elsewhere, Sunday's election is a test for
the state of reforms
and
for the fight against corruption
, at both local and national levels.
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Ukraine
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