Zelensky hints at postponing elections

Ukraine will not hold any elections while martial law remains in force in the country, President Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview to the Washington Post published on Sunday. The country is scheduled to hold elections for parliament in October and for president early next year. 

However, no voting will take place while martial law is in place amid the ongoing hostilities with Russia, Zelensky told reporters, implying that the elections will not actually take place on time. 

“If we have martial law, we cannot have elections. The constitution prohibits any elections during martial law. If there is no martial law, then there will be [elections],” Zelensky stated. 

Well, the law says that according to the constitution of Ukraine, after martial law ends, I think, in 90 days, elections are held. It’s something like that. I don’t remember actually.

Uncertainty over the upcoming elections in the country has been growing as the conflict with Russia has been raging for over a year already. Kiev enacted martial law over the conflict, while Zelensky and his ruling party have increasingly tightened their grip on power under the pretext of fighting Russia and its alleged backers inside the country.

Since the beginning of hostilities in February of last year, Kiev has enacted laws criminalizing political dissent, banned multiple opposition political parties and imposed strict censorship on the media and internet alike. The country’s authorities have even persecuted the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) over its alleged ties with Russia, despite the church having severed its formal ties with Moscow early in the ongoing conflict.

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