KIEV, Oct. 25 – President Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday said Ukraine would be better off not listening to political advice from abroad, adding that the new Parliament to be elected on Sunday will be “more effective.”

The defiant comment comes a day after the U.S. and the European Union, in a strong joint message, urged Yanukovych to address growing concerns over democracy and to make sure the vote is free and fair.

“The fewer there are prompters teaching us how to live in our home - I mean prompters from abroad - the more comfortable we are going to feel ourselves at home, in Ukraine,” Yanukovych said in Kharkiv.

Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, and Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs and security policy chief, warned Ukraine about “worrying trends” and signs the authorities may have been helping pro-government candidates.

But Yanukovych dismissed these concerns and said the people will make their choice by supporting “people that are capable of working effectively in our Parliament.”

“There will be fewer populists, talkers and this will good for the country,” Yanukovych said.

The comments raise further concerns of whether the government is committed to democracy and free and fair elections, with analysts suggesting the upcoming vote will probably be the dirtiest ever.

“Based on a scale of bribery [of voters] this is the most corrupt election campaign ever, unfortunately,” Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of the Penta political consultancy, said. “This is seriously hurting the elections.”

“In fact the competition between ideas and personalities, and political programs is being replaced with the competition of wallets,” Fesenko said.

The U.S. and the EU voiced concerns over the jailing of Ukraine’s opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko through what is believed to be politically motivated trials.

Tymoshneko, who was barred from running for a seat in Parliament, in a fiery letter from jail published by her website on Thursday, urged the people to vote Yanukovych’s Regions Party out.

“Removing mafia from power is the task not only for opposition. This time the opposition alone will not be able to do the job,” Tymopshenko said. “This is a war against dictatorship, against injustice, and that requires mobilization of each of you.”

In a 676-word article published by The New York Times on Wednesday, Clinton and Ashton urged Yanukovych to make sure the elections are free and fair or otherwise Ukraine’s relations with the West would suffer.

The EU and Ukraine earlier this year completed negotiations on an ambitious Association Agreement that will provide for the country’s political association and economic integration with the European Union, including by establishing a free trade area.

It would offer Ukrainian businesses greater access to 500 million consumers in the EU and advance Ukraine on the path toward a modern European democracy.

“But the EU will only be able to move forward with such an ambitious agenda if the democratic rights of the Ukrainian people, including freedoms of expression, political participation, association and media, are respected, the rule of law is put on strong footing, and progress is made on the overall reform agenda,” Clinton and Ashton wrote in the article. (tl/ez)