Some Western politicians are pushing Ukraine to hold parliamentary and presidential elections, despite the war and martial law. He writes about it The Washington Post.
The article says that the proposal was originally put forward by Tinie Cox, the Dutch head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and was also supported by Senator Lindsey O. Graham during a visit to Kyiv last month along with Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren.
Other Republicans have also picked up on the idea, including conservative commentators such as Tucker Carlson, who falsely accused Zelensky of nullifying the election. However, the Constitution of Ukraine prohibits elections under martial law.
Holding free and fair elections in wartime is virtually impossible and also reckless, according to Ukrainian officials, election experts and supporters of democracy. Approximately one fifth of the territory of Ukraine is now occupied by Russian troops. Millions of Ukrainians are displaced, many of them live outside the country. Tens of thousands of soldiers are fighting at the front.
"The pressure to hold elections underscores the continued demands of some Western officials that Ukraine prove its commitment to democracy, even though Ukrainians have twice risen in mass pro-democracy demonstrations — during the Orange Revolution of 2003-4 and the Revolution of Dignity on the Maidan in 2013-14 ", the publication writes.
The authors of the publication, citing Ukrainian officials, note that in order to hold a vote during the war, significant financial, logistical and legal obstacles must be overcome. In private conversations, some say that such a prospect is absolutely impossible and could give Moscow forces a chance to infiltrate Ukraine and weaken it from within.
"The Russians are insisting on this through their secret channels... There is no situation in which democratic elections can be held during wartime," said a Ukrainian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said holding the election could give Russia an opportunity to manipulate and create divisions in Ukrainian society and among politicians.
"It's risky, bad for the country and pointless from a political point of view," the official said, adding that "it will undermine the very fragile political stability of the Ukrainian State."
But Kyiv officials also cannot dismiss the idea of holding elections without supervision and risk alienating key political players in the West, who demand the elections and are crucial to maintaining international financial and military aid to Ukraine.
Journalists quoted Yulia Tymoshenko's People's Deputy from the "Batkivshchyna" party. In her view, holding elections during the war would result in Ukraine losing the war, as internal political divisions would destroy the national unity needed to defeat Russia.
"The war will be lost at the price of holding elections in wartime. Unity is an indispensable resource for our victory," Tymoshenko said in an interview in Brussels this month.
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