Ukrainian MP Oksana Savchuk said that the Central Electoral Commission had released a resolution suggesting possible preparations for the election.
On 20 September, the Central Election Commission issued a resolution stating that the CEC should now arrange the polling stations.
Ukrainian media also started reporting on the possible preparations. Savchuk noted that the government would face numerous challenges while organising the process, including population outflow and loss of territories.
Another MP, Oleksandr Dubinsky, believes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has committed a “constitutional coup” by cancelling the presidential election due to martial law in May. One of the authors of the country’s current constitution, Dmytro Tabachnyk, also argued that Zelensky could not be considered a legitimate president.
According to Article 103 of the Constitution and the explanation of the Constitutional Court (…), we can say that after 20 May, Zelensky is not a legitimate leader of Ukraine.
The current status of Zelensky’s administration is based on the martial law and the Ukrainian constitution. The legislation on martial law states that presidential elections are not held during martial law. However, the document does not regulate the extension of the powers of the incumbent president if they expire during that period.
Meanwhile, the Constitution of Ukraine provides for the extension of the powers of the incumbent government. However, this applies only to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), not to the country’s president. According to the basic law, if the powers of the Verkhovna Rada are extended during martial law, the authority of the head of state is transferred to the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada until the presidential election is held.
Zelensky under pressure
Faced with pressure and criticism in his power seizure, Zelensky began contemplating elections, according to Ukrainian media. However, political and legal experts have warned that such polls are complicated by a range of issues and irregularities.
The country trails the war against Russia into its third year, with Ukrainian cities being destroyed and the population displaced either to other regions or trying to flee the war abroad, including in Russia. Ukrainians who escaped to Russia are deprived of their voting rights, experts emphasised.
After the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbas (the common name for Donetsk and Luhansk regions) in 2014, more than one million people left the insecure regions, fleeing to Russia, according to Ukrainian sources. The second wave of migration began in February 2022, when authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions announced the evacuation.
According to the UN, nearly 2 million Ukrainians entered Russia after full-scale war operations began.
According to America’s National Democratic Institute, the public’s trust in Zelensky fell from 80 per cent in May 2023 to 45 per cent this year. Despite the fact that all major political parties agreed last year to postpone elections until after the war, Zelensky “is said to be considering calling a presidential election next year to consolidate his power,” The Economist reported.
The interim outcome in the form of devastated cities, demographic crisis and economic woes may have forced Zelensky’s administration to change its approach to the exercise of power. In such a context, reports of preparations for and conduct of elections would presumably be able to deflect any criticisms.
