Zelensky refuses to hold elections in wartime Ukraine

it's not that he is refusing to hold elections. headline is, of course, misleading.

the country's constitution literally prohibits elections during martial law, a state the country has been in since the day russia started the war.

"Zelensky follows the laws in the Ukraine Constitution while the country continues to be at war"

• FTFY, dickbag headline writer

I wonder how many people actually have a problem with this. Very few I'd suspect. Zelensky still seems popular within Ukraine, and I think most would agree that this isn't a good time for a change in leadership. Plus elections are expensive and nobody in the occupied space would be able to vote. Yeah I think this was the right call.

Newsweek is trash for that headline.

I don't think this is unreasonable. Citizens in occupied territory won't be able to vote and elections would just add pressure to a country that's fighting a major conflict on its own soil.

However I would expect Zelensky to hold free and fair elections as soon as the conflict ends, especially if he wants Ukraine to be part of the EU and eventually NATO

How do you expect Elections to work? All the soldiers take a few hours off of fighting to put their ballots in?

The rest of the citizens amass themselves in a few concentrated areas?

People who are being bombed or in hiding from russia leave their shelters and are exposed for the day? I'm sure if they wear an official uniform, that Russian soldiers won't be tempted to copy the uniform, and replace the ballots.

So, who wants to volunteer to hand out the ballot papers? I'm sure Putin would be more than happy to

I can see his point. They're in the middle of a fight for their existence. Why would you hold an election, particularly if he's doing a good job of it? Yes, I concede that this is a slippery slope for democracy, in that this is the very rationale that dictators use to shore up power. However, the grounds that they make those claims are usually against imagined foes rather than an actual country invading yours.

Day 1 after they kick russia out permanently? Election.

Given Russia's penchant for messing with elections (and with Ukrainian officials), it seems prudent as a short-term measure.

Seems reasonable for now.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

"We all understand that now, in wartime, when there are many challenges, it is utterly irresponsible to engage in topics related to an election in such a frivolous manner," Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation on Monday.

Prior to the war, Ukraine's presidential elections were scheduled for March 2024, but the country's constitution mandates that they cannot go ahead until any declaration of martial law is lifted, which is unlikely to happen in the near future.

Zelensky first declared martial law on February 24, 2022, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of his country.

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexey Danilov has also said that "no elections can be held" under martial law in the country.

Days earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during an online appearance at the World Policy Conference in the United Arab Emirates that Zelensky was weighing the pros and cons of a presidential vote in spring 2024.

The Ukrainian leader's approval rating in Ukraine remains near the record-highs set shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of the country began, data from Gallup shows.

The original article contains 423 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 56%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Really disappointing how quickly the west turned on Ukraine so they could go off to fund a genocide. They really are min-maxing for fascism.

A pure and true example of Democracy™ which all European countries should imitate. Elections are a waste of money, and if there is more than one party are a threat to political stability. Let's abolish all elections altogether./s

People are dying day by day due to these wards, i recently found that this person died in war as he was innocent person ' https://themixnews.com/stephen-daniels-obituary/ '
Remembering Stephen Daniels: A Teacher, Coach, and Friend Who Left a Lasting Legacy at Steenberg High School

Tell me, how is Zelinsky not a fascist? He and his government has been persecuting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for well over a year now, countless Nazi groups in his military wearing pagan Nazi symbols. Heck, Canada recently "honored" a general that was literally in the Nazi army back in WW2 and Zelinski said he's a "Ukrainian hero"

I'd be interested to see the comments if this were Putin.