“Now is not the time for elections. » Volodymyr Zelenskyy closed the door to a presidential election in the country on Monday. The Ukrainian leader sought to end a growing debate among leaders after more than a year and a half of Russian invasion. “Now is the time for defense, for struggle, on which the fate of the state and the people depends, and not for the farce that only Russia expects from Ukraine. I think this is not the time for elections,” he said in his daily speech.
“We must come together, not divide ourselves, not be distracted by arguments or other priorities,” he continued. On Friday, his Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba again indicated that the Ukrainian president was “weighing the pros and cons” on the issue. Because if Russia had not launched its invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s parliamentary elections should have taken place in October of this year and the presidential elections in March 2024.
Difficult elections during the war
However, the current situation poses a dilemma for Kiev: its Western allies, particularly the United States, are pushing Ukraine to hold democratic elections even though almost 20% of its territory is occupied by Russia and millions of Ukrainians are refugees abroad. Another major obstacle: the law would have to be changed to allow voting to be organized under the current martial law.
“There is no room for conflict,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday evening, who advocates for the “unity” of his people every day. “We all understand that today, in times of war, when there are numerous challenges, it is absolutely irresponsible to introduce the topic of elections into society in a casual and cheerful way,” the Ukrainian president further emphasized.