Former Lithuanian Prime Minister, Homeland Union leader Andrius Kubilius to chair parliamentary election observation mission

Former Lithuanian Prime Minister, Andrius Kubilius will serve as Chair of The Committee for Open Democracy’s Verkhovna Rada election observation mission.

Mr. Kubilius is the leader of the Homeland Union-Christian Democratic faction in the Seimas.

“We are honored and pleased that Mr. Kubilius has agreed to serve as The Committee’s delegation Chair,” said Brian Mefford, The Committee for Open Democracy’s Executive Director. “Mr. Kubilius embodies courageous, democratic values going back to his days in the Lithuanian Sajudis independence movement and through his time as a successful Member of Parliament and twice Premier Minister. And, like all Lithuanians, Mr. Kubilius is committed to a democratic Ukraine firmly rooted in Europe.”

The Committee is deploying 100 observers in a dozen election districts to monitor the October 26^th Verkhovna Rada elections. In addition to Mr. Kubilius, The Committee’s delegation includes five current and former Members of Parliament from the region. Twelve countries are represented in the delegation which will deploy to district 26 in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk districts 47 and 48, district 79 in Zaporizhya, district 119 in Lviv, Odesa districts 135 and 141, Kharkiv districts 168 and 169, district 200 in Cherkasy district, district 207 in Chernihiv and Kyiv district 223.

The Committee for Open Democracy is a nonprofit organization specializing in election observation. Established in 2010 by professionals in the election observation and broader democracy and governance field, the Committee seeks to improve the pre-electoral environment with concrete recommendations, prevent election fraud in the pre-election period and on election day and contribute to the overall electoral environment in developing democracies.

The Committee has observed elections in Albania, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Slovenia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

The Committee is a 501(c)(3) (U.S. Internal Revenue Service code) nonprofit organization headquartered in Bradenton, Florida with a base of operations in Kyiv.

The Committee for Open Democracy is an objective, non-profit organization that monitors and observes elections internationally for adherence to democratic standards of fairness, reflecting the will of the voters. More information can be found at www.committeeforopendemocracy.org, or their Facebook page.