Zelensky says elections are not adequate at this time

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that he does not believe the time is right for elections, amid a debate among the country’s leaders about the likelihood of a presidential vote in 2024.

Under martial law, which has been in effect since the war began last year, all elections, including the presidential poll scheduled for next spring, are technically cancelled.

“We must decide that now is the time of defence, the time of battle, on which the fate of the state and people depends”, Zelensky stated in his daily address.

Ukrainian President went on to say that the country should be unified not divided, and added, “I believe that now is not the (right) time for elections”.

Given Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s foreign minister stated last week that Zelensky was weighing whether elections could be held next year.

He warned that because of the vast number of Ukrainians living aboard and soldiers fighting on the front, voting would be impossible to hold.

Parliamentary elections scheduled for last month were also cancelled owing to the fighting.

Zelensky, who was elected in 2019, stated in September that he was ready to convene elections if required and supported the use of international observers to supervise the poll.

The Ukrainian president’s popularity rose once the war began, but the country’s political environment has remained fragmented despite the war’s unifying power.

Former presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych declared this week that he will run against Zelensky, citing the poor pace of the country’s counteroffensive.

Despite Ukraine launching a counteroffensive in June to reclaim Russian-occupied territory, the wide frontline between the two warring parties has not shifted in almost a year.

According to Zelensky, Ukrainian soldiers successfully destroyed a huge Russian ship in the Kerch shipyard in annexed Crimea on Monday.

The Ukrainian president has engaged with Western leaders on a regular basis in an attempt to get new air defences and stave off international fatigue with the conflict, which has now lasted for over 600 days.

Zelensky has also been compelled to deny that the conflict has reached a stalemate, though he did accept on Sunday that it had reached a difficult situation.

Also read: UN Agency: More than 60% of jobs lost in Gaza during war