President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea of presidential elections in Ukraine next year, labeling the topic as “irresponsible” in his video address posted on Nov. 6.
Dude, no reasonable country would have elections in the middle of a situation like the one Ukraine is in. Almost all democracies have some sort of wartime exception.
I hate the idea of suspending elections, but I’m not sure what alternatives there are.
Maybe a special term limit which expires at the time the normal one or at the end of the war, whichever is soonest? Franchise would be given to everyone within Ukrainian controlled land and to citizens abroad who do not reside in territory the enemy controls?
Maybe suspend the election a year or two, with a commitment to the above strategy at the end of that suspension?
He makes a good point, elections are not a good idea right now.
Then again, that’s how it often starts. A charismatic and popular leader not holding elections because it doesn’t make sense at that point. And nobody is complaining because there are much more important issues and almost everyone supports the leader anyway. When the conflict eventually begins to settle, there are still no elections and people don’t complain because they’re much too busy rebuilding. When the issue of elections is finally brought up, the majority who still support the leader will point to his war-hero status and see it as an attack on themselves. There may be conflict, demonstrations but no elections. The years go by, younger people grow into adults who never voted in their lives. They only know one leader and never experienced a change of government. That’s when democracy has died.
To prevent this scenario from happening, Zelensky should define a clear point at which elections will be held. For example, the first sunday 6 months after the last Russian troops are removed from Ukrainian territory. If that date comes and goes without elections happening, everyone knows what’s up.
Hopefully he takes a page out of this part of George Washington’s playbook and stays President long enough post-war to set his country on the right track but bows out before his supporters make him emperor.
This point is already clearly defined in the Ukrainian constitution and laws. Elections will be held in a few months after martial law is lifted. So far the martial law forbids elections.
Yeah. It's reasonable to suspend voting. Between many people being outside of the country, a lot of them being active as soldiers on the front and entire section of the country under occupation. Not giving the East any vote, since they're under occupation, is the opposite of healing the country.
An election would be a shit show. Plus, there would be like 5 guys saying "my goal is to win the war" and some token insano who is going "my goal is to fall over and surrender".
There should be elections closely after the war ends, but an election doesn't make sense in such a hot fight.
How would they collect votes in areas occupied by the Russians? Not to mention all the Ukrainians taking refuge abroad. Holding an election during wartime would not be fair and thus undemocratic.
Not yet. There have been other democracies that have postponed elections due to big emergencies like war and carried on as democracies just fine afterward. Britain during WWII, for example.
It is standard operating procedure to delay elections while your country is under attack. Resources used on election campaigns are far better utilised coming up with plans to help the country survive.
It's worth some concern but I wouldn't freak out just yet. The United Kingdom cancelled an election that was due in 1940 because of that trouble going on with Germany at the time, and held the next one on 1945 where they quite soundly kicked out Churchill despite him having been a popular wartime prime minister. So it's not unprecedented. Ukraine has a bit less of a democratic tradition to give them inertia, sure, but if they want EU membership someday they're going to have a lot of pressure keeping them on the straight and narrow.
I agree. I can think of reasons why, especially since the Russians wouldn’t bat an eyelid in bombing voting areas, and the candidates can’t really have a debate without risking assassination.
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