My name is David Denny and I am a Principal Officer in the Remuneration, Industrial Relations and Pensions Division of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Last month I found myself making a long journey from the world of Pay Policy, here on St. Stephen’s Green to the Steppes of Southern Ukraine. I was one of 18 Irish Short Term Observers who had been asked to be part of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) election observation mission for the early presidential election. These missions are part of the Irish Government’s commitment to Human Rights and building civil society and Irish Aid maintain a register of potential election observers. Since I had observed previous elections in Ukraine I was one of those nominated for this mission and the Department agreed to my release. The OSCE provide small numbers of observers for many elections in the former Eastern Europe but in this case there were almost 1000 international observers. We were all briefed in Kiev and then transported to the various regions where observers were matched with local drivers and interpreters, assigned to 2-person teams and allocated polling stations to visit, to ensure that the election would be free and fair and up to international standards. We were also to get the views of representatives of the various candidates to see if they had any problems on the ground. My partner was a French academic, Dr Ioulia Shukan, as teams are always of different nationalities.
Ioulia and I were part of a group of 28 observers who boarded the overnight train to Kherson Oblast just north of Crimea. Four of us then drove for a further 2.5 hours to the rural area of Novotroitsk on the Sea of Azov. We had a day to familiarise ourselves with the area and decide which of 140 odd polling stations we would visit on Election Day, Sunday 25th May. Given the roads, potential security issues (being so close to the Crimea) and distances we were only in a position to inspect about 10 on the day.
Naturally, given the political climate, there were major security concerns during our time in Ukraine. Thankfully, it was only in a couple of eastern regions that voting was seriously disrupted. Nevertheless, we were all conscious not to have anything that might be misconstrued if stopped at a checkpoint (like marks on our maps of possible military features, or binoculars.)
In truth, we didn’t encounter problems of fraud or corruption but we still checked procedures thoroughly, making sure ballot boxes were not stuffed, that election literature was not displayed in the polling station and that voters were allowed to vote in secrecy. Happily, we found the technical aspects of the election to be correct but it was a much more lively event in many places. In one small village we visited the polling team had small gifts for their first time voters. Everywhere it was noticeable that older voters were dressed in their ‘Sunday best’ and delighted to greet their neighbours. There was also ‘home voting’ when members of the polling team visit registered (elderly or infirm) voters at home so they can cast their ballots. It was a long day for the polling teams and ourselves – we were up from 6.00 am to 3.00 the following morning, and then we started another 8 hour shift five hours later.
Everywhere we went we were made very welcome – in an area of many Russian speakers with Lenin statues in most villages, people were glad to see westerners standing by their country and helping bear witness to the election. The stakes were far higher than who won the election. Had it been seen to fail with low turn-out in large parts of the country, the argument could have been made that Ukraine was a failed political entity. The fact that the winner secured a strong mandate that transcended the traditional East v West divide of the country is a hopeful straw in the wind for Ukraine.
David Denny, Principal Officer, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Image depicts David and Dr Ioulia Shukan in front of a statue of Lenin