Zelensky proposed imposing martial law to avoid elections.

President Zelensky declared martial law on February 24, 2022, and has extended it ever since. The most recent 90-day extension was announced on May 20 and is set to expire on August 18. If the Ukrainian Parliament approves Zelensky's latest request, the state of emergency will be extended until January 15.

Ukrainian law calls for parliamentary elections no later than October 29, with a 60-day campaign period starting on August 28. However, the law also prohibits campaigning and voting during periods of martial law.

Extending martial law would disrupt the campaigning season for the presidential election, currently scheduled for next March. “If we impose martial law, we cannot hold elections. The constitution prohibits any elections from taking place during martial law,” Zelensky declared in May. The following month, he told the BBC that “elections need to take place in peacetime, when there is no fighting.”

Some supporters of Ukraine in Europe and North America have criticized the possibility of canceling the elections. "Ukraine should prepare for a vote as soon as possible," said Tiny Kox, head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in an interview. “While democracy is not just about elections, I think we all agree that without elections, democracy cannot function properly,” Kox said.

President Zelensky ran for election in 2019 and won with 73% of the vote. Shortly afterward, his newly formed party – named after the television show in which he played a fictional president of Ukraine – also won a majority in Parliament.

By the end of 2020, he had moved away from the concept of peace in Donbass and began speaking openly about a military solution to the “occupied territories.”