Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the 22nd of August rejected a former Defense Minister’s proposal to hold presidential elections, saying they would pose significant risks, Politico reports
Zelensky told reporters that he believed holding elections during a war posed significant risks. He said a vote now would be like a tsunami and would tear the country apart. Zelensky added that his strategy was to take Ukraine to the end of the war and to maintain an independent and sovereign state.
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who resigned in July during a controversial government reshuffle, has called for presidential elections.
Zelensky said that if partners can offer certain conditions for elections that would ensure safe, legitimate and democratic elections, then it could be discussed. This would mean that soldiers fighting on the front lines and Ukrainian citizens living abroad would also participate in the elections. However,
this is currently not possible if Putin refuses to agree to a ceasefire.
Fedorov has presented himself as a competitor to the current president. In a video address on August 18, Fedorov said that people cannot live indefinitely in a country where they do not understand why certain decisions are being made.
Meanwhile, Fedorov’s position has been criticized by both Zelensky’s allies and the opposition. It is believed that the elections, which have been postponed under wartime laws in force since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, will only benefit the Kremlin and divide the country. Zelensky said that Fedorov, whom he has and still has a positive attitude towards, is going in the wrong direction, either on his own or as a result of pressure. The president added that they have been through a lot together.
Fedorov, speaking to the BBC on the 23rd of August, reiterated that he had a moral right to raise the issue of the elections. He said that if one cannot openly express one’s ideas and be open with the public, then what is the fight for?
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