Okhendovsky wants to maintain continuity in CEC’s work

Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Mykhailo Okhendovsky has said he is planning to maintain continuity in the work of the commission.

"For the first time in nearly a decade the replacement of the CEC chairman has become the result of the evolutionary, rather than tectonic process," he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Okhendovsky was elected head of the Central Election Commission at a commission meeting on July 6 by secret ballot. Some 11 of the 14 commission members voted for his candidacy. Two ballots were declared invalid, because they did not have any notes, and one more ballot included a mark opposite the line "do not support any candidate." The secret ballot included only one name – Mykhailo Okhendovsky, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

After the election, Okhendovsky said that no changes would be made in the work of the commission.

"Speaking about the changes, I meant that at my new post I will try to maximally maintain continuity in the work of the commission. All mechanisms for drafting, adopting and implementing collective decisions, which we have had since the first day of our joint work, have proven to be effective and remain unchanged," he said.

"The same thing can be said about the work of the commission’s secretariat, as well as the service of the state register of voters. I currently see no need to reorganize them or significantly reshuffle their personnel," Okhendovsky said.

When asked whether he will be able to reach a compromise in conflicts between CEC members representing the pro-government majority and the opposition, Okhendovsky said: "We have already learnt to understand each other perfectly… I see no factors that could hinder this in future."