Will violate the Constitution: the Council doubts that elections during the war will be legitimate

According to People's Deputy Fyodor Venislavsky, because many Ukrainians live in temporarily occupied territories and abroad, it is impossible to provide them with suffrage. The election of the President of Ukraine during the hostilities may lead to an irreconcilable discrepancy with the principles of constitutional suffrage, and therefore, their results may raise doubts about the legitimacy of the President chosen in such conditions.

This was reported by the Presidential Representative in the Verkhovna Rada, the People's Deputy from the servant of the people Fedir Venislavsky in a comment to the edition of LIGA. net. "There are one hundred percent grounds for doubting the legitimacy of the president, hypothetically elected during martial law," he said. Venislavsky expresses that during the martial law it will be difficult to guarantee compliance with the constitutional principles of suffrage.

First, the issue in Ukrainians living in temporarily occupied territories, secondly, in Ukrainians who went abroad and did not return to Ukraine. According to the People's Deputy, in both cases to ensure the exercise of suffrage for these groups of people is "very difficult".

Venislavsky emphasized that holding a presidential election during the war can lead to violation of freedom of election agitation, restriction of freedom of media, political parties, as well as the creation of adverse conditions for the safety of life and health and other similar aspects. "The constitutional principles of suffrage are enshrined in Section 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Therefore, failure to comply with those constitutional principles gives one hundred percent grounds to doubt the legitimacy of the next president who would not be," he said. The regular elections of the President of Ukraine should be held in 2024. The first round is March 31, the second (in case of appointment) - April 21. On October 4, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy first allowed elections in Ukraine during the war. The safety of voters must be ensured.

According to the Head of State, the Verkhovna Rada must solve all tasks to guarantee safe access to voting. He noted that Ukrainian citizens should vote without attacking. "The situation is difficult, but elections in Ukraine can take place," Zelensky said. The president also has the question of how to be with temporarily occupied territories and their residents. "All Ukrainians in the occupied territories are very important," he said.