Western Observers Call Ukrainian Election "Step Backwards"

Dasvidaniya to democracy?

Western observers on Monday slammed the conduct of Ukraine's parliamentary election held Sunday Sunday, calling it a "disappointment" and a "step backwards" for democracy.

In unusually forthright language, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe criticized the conduct of the campaign before the polls opened and the lack of transparency in the vote calculations after the polls closed. This election, they said, was less fair than earlier votes in the country.