Home › Opinion › What did Kyiv's last week of October 2020 reveal?
What did Kyiv's last week of October 2020 reveal?
Summary
A look back at three developments from late October 2020 that touched Ukraine: low turnout at local elections, a Constitutional Court ruling on declarations, and Belarus closing its borders.
What was Ukraine looking at on 31 October 2020? The answer was a crowded few days, with a domestic vote, a court ruling and a neighbour's border decision all within a week.
On 25 October, Ukraine held local elections, choosing deputies of village, settlement and city councils as well as village, settlement and city mayors. Turnout was about 37%, the lowest in the history of independent Ukraine.
Three days later, on 28 October, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine issued a decision that, as reported, meant ending electronic declaration. It also removed the powers of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention to carry out full checks and to monitor lifestyles. The ruling meant abolishing the offences of illicit enrichment and of false declaration, along with the confiscation of assets acquired through corruption.
On 29 October, Belarus abruptly closed its borders with Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, while keeping the border with Russia open. This came amid continuing protests against Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. He insisted the step was meant to restrict the spread of COVID-19.
Three threads
The three events were separate. Taken together, they showed what was on the agenda for Ukraine at the end of October 2020: how many voters took part in the local ballot, how anti-corruption tools would function after the court's decision, and how a northern neighbour handled its frontier.
