Ukrainian leader says time is not ripe for elections
(Baonghean.vn) - According to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, it is impossible to hold an election while martial law is in effect.
According to RT, on November 6, President Vladimir Zelensky said that the current time is not suitable to hold elections in Ukraine. The information was released after months of pressure from the West for Kiev to hold a parliamentary election to maintain the perception of democracy.
In his daily speech, Mr. Zelensky said: “We must decide that now is the time for defense, the time for fighting, on which the fate of the state and the people depends.”
“I believe that now is not the time to hold elections,” he added, but the time for Ukraine to unite.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said last week that President Zelensky is “considering” whether to hold presidential elections in 2024. Kuleba noted that such an election would be difficult to hold, given that millions of Ukrainians have fled the country due to the conflict with Russia, and hundreds of thousands more are fighting on the front lines.
Parliamentary elections in Ukraine were due to be held this month, but have been postponed indefinitely due to martial law imposed in February 2022. Ukrainian law prohibits voting or campaigning during a state of emergency.
Mr Zelensky has been under increasing pressure from the West for months to at least make a dent in democracy by holding elections. Some EU politicians as well as US senators have made such arguments to Kiev.
He flatly rejected the idea in May, citing martial law rules. But by August, some of Mr Zelensky’s aides suggested that an election could take place, with the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament proposing a law change because “democracy cannot be stopped”.
RT also commented that for a long time, it was unclear whether anyone could challenge Mr. Zelensky, when Ukraine banned dozens of political parties considered "pro-Russian" under a law issued in May 2022, including the largest opposition bloc.
However, last week, Mr Zelensky’s former aide Alexey Arestovich announced he would run for president against his former boss whenever the next election is held. He had been in charge of much of the propaganda from Kiev in 2022, but resigned in January.
