Donetsk, Sep 22 – DAN. DPR Interim Vote Commission (IVC) ruled that three candidates were wrongfully denied a registration for the Republican primaries 2016. The decision was taken at an IVC extraordinary meeting in Donetsk.
"Seven candidates filed appeals against registration denial. The three of them were sustained today, thus the number of the primaries candidates is now 1098. Please note, today is the deadline for appeals. Active campaigning has started", IVC press officer Oleg Balykin told journalists.
He explained that four appeals out of seven were not sustained as the applicants failed to provide non-conviction certificates or credible residence information or to collect enough signatures.
The extraordinary meeting was attended by 11 IVC members and international observers - Miodrag Zarkovic from Serbia and Manuel Ochsenreiter from Germany.
"It’s a hard job to be an international observer. We monitor what’s going on and at the same time we’re learning how the process goes. It’s much more democratic here than in our countries. As for today’s hearing, I think the Comission ruled it right, all its members shared the decision," Zarkovic said.
1095 candidates registered to compete in primaries, 97 were denied registration for various reasons, mostly the lack of signature.
The first round of the primaries-2016 is scheduled to take place in Donetsk on October, 2th.
The primaries, that are preliminary in nature, are aimed just at exploring public opinion and held before anticipated local elections in Donbass, are in compliance with Minsk Agreements. The vote is being organized in line with OSCE standards. Official representatives of the candidates alongside international observers from OSCE/ODIHR and other foreign and international organizations are free to monitor the DPR primaries.
The Interim Vote Commission is also authorized to invite representatives of Ukrainian, Russian and EU political parties.