There are no ongoing preparations for elections, as all parties agree that the next vote can be held only after the lifting of martial law, Davyd Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, told Suspilne on March 31.
Arakhamia's statement comes after the Economist reported that Ukraine's elections could be held in July 2025, and Zelensky allegedly called a meeting on the matter.
Arakhamia said that he did not take part in such a meeting and claimed that it "did not happen at all."
"No elections are being prepared, no preparations are underway. All parliamentary parties and groups have agreed that elections should be held six months after the lifting of martial law, " Arakhamia said. "Our position has not changed since then."
Serhii Dubovyk, deputy head of the Central Election Commission, told Suspilne that preparations for elections after the war will require the adoption of a law on the specifics of post-war elections.
According to existing legislation, parliamentary elections should be held 60 days after the end of martial law, and presidential elections 90 days after. Yet, this period will not be enough to prepare for the elections, Dubovyk added.
Ukraine's Constitution prohibits elections under martial law, which has been in place since the onset of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has widely used the claim that Zelensky is illegitimate in its propaganda to discredit the Ukrainian government. The false claim is based on the premise that Zelensky's first term in office was originally meant to end on May 20, 2024.
Russia's full-scale invasion and the subsequent declaration of martial law in Ukraine has meant elections have been impossible to hold, and his term has been extended, something constitutional lawyers say is allowed under Ukrainian law.
U.S. President Donald Trump initially echoed the Kremlin's narrative, denouncing Zelensky as a "dictator without elections." He then seemingly walked back on the statement, even voicing displeasure wth Russian President Vladimir Putin over the latter's attacks on Zelensky's credibility.
Chris York
(Updated: )
