Ukraine: earlier pre-election silence
Bogumił Kolmasiak, translation: AG Sunday, 03 January 2010 12:14
Following 'Rzeczpospolita', on ukrainian prime minister's, Julia Tymoszenko's, website appeared a request addressed to media for holding up publication of polls until the day of elections. Pre-election silence will remain from 2nd to 17th of January.Tymoszenko is not a favorite in opinion polls. Most of research centers regard the victory of Janukowicz (a leader of pro-Russian Region Party) beyond any doubt. Current president, Wiktor Juszczenko, has rather no chances for reelection.
Commentary:
In Poland a pre-election silence starts on Saturday at midnight i.e. it's prohibited publishing any polls or pushing for any candidate during one day only. Reffering to the last elections - to European Parliament - this solution has been criticize as anachronistic. Nowadays, as we've got the internet and text messaging, it's impossible to introduce proper mechanisms of control. In the USA the idea of pre-election silence doesn't exist. On the other hand, ukrainian solution gives voters a chance to confront calmly with the candidates' programs and to take a decision that is not affected with 'I'm-voting-for-stronger' thinking.
