Despite the war: Some Western politicians want elections in Ukraine next year - Washington Post

About it writes today, September 24, the American newspaper Washington Post. This proposal was initially put forward by the Dutch Chairman of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. Subsequently, during his visit to Kiev, this was made by the Senator-Republican Lindsey. Other Republicans, including such odious conservatives as Tucker Carlson, who was falsely accused Zelensky of cancellation of elections, also picked up the case.

In fact, the Constitution of Ukraine prohibits elections in martial law, notes the publication, referring, including, experts in elections and supporters of democracy. "The holding of free and honest wartime elections is actually impossible and also ill -considered. Now about one fifth territory of Ukraine is occupied by Russian troops. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced, many of them live outside the country. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been abandoned on the front," Wp.

According to the media, the pressure on holding the elections, despite the mentioned obstacles, emphasizes the constant demands of some forces in the West, so that Ukraine proves its democracy, even though Ukrainians have twice rose to mass promocratic demonstrations-during the 2003-2004 Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity 2013-2014.

Ukrainian officials, which WP refers to anonymously, say that in order to conduct voting in wartime it is necessary to overcome significant financial, logistical and legal obstacles. "There is no situation in which democratic elections could be held during the war. The Russians insist on this through their secret channels," - says the word of a source from the Ukrainian security apparatus.

Such a prospect, according to WP experts, is absolutely impossible and can give the Moscow forces a means of penetrating Ukraine and weaken it from within. "This is risky, bad for the country and meaningless from a political point of view. It will undermine the very fragile political stability of the Ukrainian state," the Ukrainian source notes.

Certain Ukrainian politicians even fear that the cost of conducting elections in wartime can be a loss in the war, since the internal political differences that are natural in a democratic society can destroy the national unity necessary for victory over Russia. According to some Ukrainian parliamentarians, the pressure comes primarily from the Republicans through the beginning of the US presidential election in 2024. "This is logical and expected.

Of course, Ukrainian affairs will become part of the intra -American discourse in one way or another," one MP said. First of all, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted during his visit to Canada, the election during the war prohibits the law. He called five obstacles for this: in August, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine extended the martial law for 90 days, thereby in the legal sense, having postponed the parliamentary elections, which should take place no later than late October.