Everyone in Ukraine is talking about elections. Despite the ongoing hostilities, despite the direct legislative ban on any voting, despite the fact that society is against the idea of an election campaign during the war, everyone in Ukraine is talking about elections.
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Elections are fundamental principles of democracy, but is such an expression of will possible during a full-scale invasion?
After the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Tiny Cox, said in an interview that Ukraine should organize elections, despite the war, because the Charter of the Council of Europe obliges it, Ukrainian and international media regularly started talking about this, writes Voice of America.
In his program, popular American blogger Tucker Carlson, a frequent critic of aid to Ukraine, expressed doubt that Ukraine is a democracy and called Zelensky a “demagogue” who used war to gain absolute power.
At the same time, political figures friendly to Ukraine also expressed concern about the postponement of the elections.
In August, during a visit to Kyiv, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that elections in Ukraine next year should be held even in conditions of war. In his opinion, “free and fair elections, even during an attack” on Ukraine, can demonstrate whether the country has changed on the issue of corruption.
However, the chief adviser and senior director of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Ukraine, Peter Erben, insists that democratic countries that are partners with Ukraine do not put pressure on it on the issue of holding elections. They very clearly stated their position that Ukraine will hold elections when there are conditions for truly democratic elections.
The BBC writes that the statements of some politicians resemble slogans in front of pain. Other figures openly discuss their participation or non-participation in the upcoming campaign.
And all this in a situation where it is unclear what kind of elections we are talking about, when they will take place and whether they will take place at all.
The first question that arises in this regard: what other elections are there in a warring country? Why carry them out in principle? Yes, the scheduled elections of the Verkhovna Rada were supposed to take place on the Sunday before last, October 31, the presidential elections should take place on the last day of March next year, but what plans are we talking about when there is a war in Ukraine?
There are several ways to answer these questions, says the BBC.
First, and this point of view is generally supported by Western commentators, elections are an undeniable element of democracy. And if Ukraine is a democratic state, if it declares its belonging to the Western, democratic world, it must find the opportunity to hold elections, even if they are not ideal under martial law.
Secondly, the current Ukrainian government has its own pragmatic reasons for insisting on holding elections as soon as possible. The results of opinion polls show that Vladimir Zelensky personally maintains the highest trust rating among current Ukrainian politicians – more than 70%.
The third possible answer is actively promoted by probably the only Ukrainian politician who directly speaks about the need to hold elections as soon as possible and has already announced his intention to participate in them – former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine Alexey Arestovich.
He argues that the Ukrainian government system has reached the limit of its competence, and its domestic, foreign and military decisions are “killing Ukraine.” Therefore, he said, this system must be changed immediately through elections.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.