Civil Network OPORA resumes the cycle of videos “Power of Choice. Important Conversations About Ukraine”. This is a series of visionary interviews with Ukrainian intellectuals for those who want to understand the world and the uniqueness of Ukrainians in it better.
Every week, we invite experts from various areas of humanities to have a conversation with the project host, Olga Aivazovska. We talk about the choice in a broad sense, about what we face every day and what makes us different from others.
After February 24, 2022, Ukrainians have been re-thinking the reality around them and felt the pertinent need to understand themselves: how they choose their identity, language, freedom, place of living, profession, vector for development, etc. What is our Ukrainian choice about? How was it built and what does it rely on today? How does war context transform the concept of choice? What are the threats to that choice?
OPORA has been working with elections-related themes for over 17 years now. Elections are the tool of collective choice that determines the future of the country and every individual. We certainly know that choice is not only about a tick in the ballot paper on the voting day. It is also the fight for your values and principles. We know multiple cases proving that each choice has its consequences. Ukrainians are free to choose in which country they want to live and how to build their future.
In the first video of the second season of "Power of Choice", Olga Aivazovska spoke with IFES principal advisor Peter Erben about the possibility of holding elections during wartime, organizing the voting of millions of Ukrainians abroad, preventing collaborators from participating in election processes. Peter Erben, principal advisor of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Senior Country Director for IFES Ukraine. He has over 30 years of experience, particularly in the field of post-war and post-conflict elections. He organized elections in Kosovo (2000-2001) and Afghanistan (2004).