Representatives of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics to the Minsk talks Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego have sent Heidi Tagliavini, Leonid Kuchma, Azamat Kulmukhametov and Pierre Morel a letter suggesting mechanisms for holding municipal elections in Donbass.
According to Donetsk News Agency, the proposals contain a draft law on peculiarities of local elections. The law stipulates that people in some regions should have the right to form interim election commissions on their own. Those commissions should have the authority to organize elections and to count votes. The Ukrainian parties that were engaged in the anti-terrorist operation and the economic sanctions against Donbass will not be allowed to run in the elections.
The elections should be monitored by ODIHR, OSCE and some other international organizations. According to ODIHR requirements, the elections should be held after the stoppage of the anti-terrorist operation and the approval of a law on amnesty of self-defenders and political activists from Donbass.
According to Pushilin, the proposals comply with points 4 and 12 of the Minsk Complex of Measures and will be discussed in Minsk on May 22. Pushilin and Deinego are also going to insist that Poroshenko’s amendment on special status for Donbass be cancelled.
“No peace in Donbass is possible unless this amendment is annulled,” Pushilin said.
