KIEV, Ukraine, March 29 (UPI) -- Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko said that the military did not try to influence soldiers' votes in the March 26 elections.
Hrytsenko, during a live broadcast on 1+1 Channel on Monday, "I prohibited making any pressure on soldiers and officers, marching them to the polling stations, making them vote and then reporting about the voting results.
"Probably it will shock the audience, but the Minister of Defense does not know and even does not want to know what his army's choice is."
In December Hrytsenko signed the Directive on Measures for Provision of Servicemen's Franchise Realization. The law prohibits putting political pressure on Ukraine's soldiers and officers.
The March 26 Ukrainian parliamentary election was the first since the "Orange Revolution" in November 2004 brought President Viktor Yushchenko to power. More than 40 parties ran for the 450 parliamentary seats.
The election was well covered, with Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission registering over 1,700 observers. The largest contingents were from the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations and the Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
