Published On: Mon, May 12th, 2014
nsnbc : The first results of the referendum in Donetsk and Lughansk have been announced, showing a resounding majority of voters supporting “an act of independence” for their region. The post-coup government in Kiev ignored calls from Germany, France and Russia to halt military operations and increased the crackdown, resulting in additional death and injured.
Preliminary results show that about 90 percent of voters in the Donetsk region voted “yes” for “an act of independence”, said the head of the Central Election Commission of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Roman Lyagin. The CEC head said:“Counting the ballots proved to be surprisingly easy – the number of people who said ‘no’ was relatively small and there appeared to be only a tiny proportion of spoiled ballots, so we managed to carry out counting quite fast. The figures are as follows: 89.07 percent voted ‘for’, 10.19 percent voted ‘against’ and 0.74 percent of ballots were rendered ineligible”.
Voter turnout in Donetsk was about 78 percent. It is worth noting that Kiev’s military operations prevented voters in some cities from voting freely. In Lughansk, the voter turnout was at about 81 percent. Preliminary results from the Lughansk region show that only some 5 percent voted “no” to “an act of independence”The acting government in Kiev ignored German, French, Russian and the OSCE’s calls to immediately end punitive military operations in the rebellious regions.
German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande, last weekend, called on Kiev to start direct talks with all of the regions of Ukraine, propose constitutional and legal changes, and to immediately end punitive military operations. Merkel and Hollande stressed that the use of military was acceptable only, to protect infrastructure and human life and even then, they added, it must be proportional.
The final results are expected to be announced later on Monday, during public rallies. The high voter turnout despite a military threat and the overwhelming “yes” in support of “an act of independence” are widely perceived as a resounding “no” to the neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist, neo-liberalist government alliance in Kiev and their coup d’état on February 21.
Ch/L – nsnbc 12.05.2014
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