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Kuleba: Zelensky considering whether to hold elections on schedule

by Elsa Court and The Kyiv Independent news desk November 3, 2023 9:35 PM 1 min read
A polling booth during the parliamentary elections in Kyiv, Ukraine, 21 July 2019. (Photo by Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

President Volodymyr Zelensky is considering holding elections as scheduled in the spring of 2024, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during a briefing on Nov. 3.

"We are not closing this page. The president of Ukraine is considering and weighing the different pros and cons," Kuleba said during an online appearance at the World Policy Conference, Reuters reported.

Ukraine's parliamentary elections were supposed to be held in October 2023, while presidential elections were scheduled for March 2024.

Under Ukraine's Constitution, elections are prohibited while the country is in a state of martial law.

Kuleba said that there are clearly logistical and security challenges involved in holding free and fair elections during wartime.

Millions of voters live abroad or in territories currently occupied by Russia.

A poll published by the International Republican Institute (IRP) on Oct. 24 showed that 62% of Ukrainians believe that elections should only be held after the war is over.

According to the results of the survey, only 22% of respondents prefer to see elections take place as early as March 2024, if the war is still ongoing.

Opinion: Elections and war are incompatible
Had it not been for Russia’s full-scale war, Ukrainians would have engaged in a heated political season in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections on Oct. 29, as well as the presidential elections in March of the upcoming year. Despite some voices in the West pushing for Ukraine’s

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