Poroshenko Signs Law on Local Elections in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a law on local elections, the presidential administration said on its Twitter account Thursday.

KIEV (Sputnik) – It is also said that the new electoral system, which has never been used in Ukraine before, will be used on the coming elections.

“If during the elections, the candidates do not gain 50% + 1, a second round will be held,” according to the Tweet, citing Presidential Administration Deputy Head Vitaliy Kovalchuk.

“The president has signed the law on local elections,” Kovalchuk said.

According to Kovalchuk, the current overall number of 220,000 Ukraine’s lawmakers will be reduced by at least 30 percent. Moreover, it is planned that prospective members to local councils will have to cross a 5-percent electoral threshold, instead of the earlier established 3 percent.

Local elections for mayor and regional heads in the southeastern Ukrainian self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) are slated for November 1, according to LPR leader Igor Plotnitsky. In compliance with LPR law, only a person who has resided in the east Ukraine’s self-proclaimed republic for at least 10 years is eligible to become a LPR head.

In early July, the eastern Ukrainian self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic announced local elections would be held October 18.