Ukrainian parliament to examine international experience of holding wartime elections
Ruslan StefanchukThe Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has appealed to other countries' parliaments to help Ukraine study the experience of holding elections during wartime, news agency Interfax-Ukraine reported on Oct. 24. Read also: Ukrainian Election Commission member Buhlak lives in Florida and collects salary while his country is at war “I have appealed to my fellow parliamentarians from many parliaments with a request: please, share your parliaments' experiences, how you have or have not conducted elections during a war,” said Stefanchuk.“We are now exchanging these experiences, and I believe we will have some resolution shortly.”ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisementHowever, Stefanchuk pointed out that under existing Ukrainian law, elections cannot be conducted while martial law remains in effect.“But there are certain inconsistencies in Ukrainian law regarding the possibility or impossibility of conducting parliamentary or presidential elections; we are currently dis
The Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has appealed to other countries' parliaments to help Ukraine study the experience of holding elections during wartime, news agency Interfax-Ukraine reported on Oct. 24.
“I have appealed to my fellow parliamentarians from many parliaments with a request: please, share your parliaments' experiences, how you have or have not conducted elections during a war,” said Stefanchuk.
“We are now exchanging these experiences, and I believe we will have some resolution shortly.”
However, Stefanchuk pointed out that under existing Ukrainian law, elections cannot be conducted while martial law remains in effect.
“But there are certain inconsistencies in Ukrainian law regarding the possibility or impossibility of conducting parliamentary or presidential elections; we are currently discussing these issues," he added.
Read also: Ukraine’s Western allies divided on push to hold elections in wartime
Stefanchuk said that to conduct elections during a war, "five or six" significant issues must be resolved, the first of which is ensuring Ukrainian troops’ right to vote and be elected to governing bodies.
According to a poll conducted in September by the Razumkov Centre, 64% of Ukrainians are against holding general elections in Ukraine until the war is over.
Read also: Ukraine hasn’t abandoned idea of presidential elections, says political scientist
In an interview with the Romanian publication Digi24 on Oct. 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the possibility of running for re-election, stating, “If the war continues — yes, if the war ends — no.”
In August, Zelenskyy acknowledged the impossibility of holding elections during a state of martial law but expressed his readiness to make changes to the legislation. When questioned about concerns over losing in the elections, he boldly responded, “I am not afraid of losing.”
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