Dispatch of Election Observers to the Presidential Election of Ukraine

January 13, 2010
Japanese

The Government of Japan has decided to assign six members of the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine as election observers to support fair conduct of the presidential election of Ukraine, which is scheduled for January 17 (Sun). Two of them are to be dispatched to the major international election observation mission organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe / the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), while 4 members are to be registered at the Central Election Commission of Ukraine as observers of the Government of Japan for their relevant monitoring activities.
The upcoming presidential election will be held upon the expiration of the term of Mr. Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine, and will be the first presidential election since the “Orange Revolution” in Ukraine in December 2004. Free and fair conduct of the upcoming election is of critical importance to the consolidation of democracy of Ukraine. Thus, more than 600 observers are to be dispatched from major countries to the International Election Observation Mission of OSCE/ODIHR.

(END)