Elections in Ukraine can be held at least six months after the end of martial law. And even this preparation period is considered very optimistic.
This was stated by Olga Aivazovska, head of the NGO “Civil Network ”Opora” and member of the working group on the preparation of laws on holding elections during wartime.
Earlier, the Financial Times, citing sources, wrote that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy intends to announce a plan to hold presidential elections and a referendum on February 24, the anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion.
“Making any political statement about the elections on February 24 shows a complete lack of understanding of the mood of society and the trauma associated with this date. I don’t really understand how anyone could come up with the idea of linking the day of the start of full-scale aggression with the date when the need to hold elections in Ukraine will be announced,” Aivazovska said.
The FT article also noted that the administration of US President Donald Trump had demanded that elections be held by May 15, threatening to otherwise deprive Kyiv of security guarantees. Aivazovska noted that in order to “lose security guarantees, you first have to have them.”
“I hope that the experience of Budapest has taught us something, and that this should be a bilateral international agreement ratified by parliaments, rather than a memorandum or declaration. Thus, by May 15, we cannot lose what we do not have,” she added.
According to her, work in groups on drafting legislation for the first post-war elections is continuing, “but there is an understanding that at least six months are needed between the end of martial law and the start of the election campaign.” She stressed that even a six-month period is “very optimistic.”
Aivazovska also reported that a working group is working in parliament to prepare legislative proposals on the specifics of organizing and holding elections in a special period or post-war elections, and the next meeting is scheduled for January 12.