The United States is waiting for the elections in Ukraine: how and when will Ukrainians elect a president and who is leading in the polls?
4 February 13:34
The United States hopes that Ukraine will hold presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of 2025 if a ceasefire agreement with Russia is reached in the coming months. At the same time, sociologists are already polling Ukrainians to determine the likely winner of the next presidential race. What do the Ukrainian authorities say about the prospect of elections, whether the CEC will be ready to hold them as soon as possible, and who do Ukrainians see as the next President of Ukraine – "Komersant Ukrainian" analyzed.
In an interview with Reuters, US President Donald Trump’s special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said that the elections, which were suspended due to the full-scale war, should be held, as most democratic countries organize voting even during armed conflicts. He emphasized that this is important for democracy.
“That’s the beauty of a strong democracy, that you have more than one person who can potentially run for office,”
– Kellogg said.
Statement from the US is not an ultimatum, but a hope
The Ukrainian government has not yet responded to his statement. However, military expert Ivan Stupak in an exclusive commentary
“The message here is more that they should definitely take place after the ceasefire is reached, so that there is no delay. So that it doesn’t happen that the hostilities are over, and the Ukrainian authorities delay the process, explaining it by the uncertainty of the situation,”
– noted Ivan Stupak.
In his opinion, the organization of elections may take several months after the end of hostilities, and this will not be a big problem. The main thing is to ensure that they are held and to prevent deviations from democratic norms.
“The main thing is that the elections should be organized immediately after the end of the war. Whether it takes two, three or even four months is not so important. It is important that Ukraine remains a democratic state and does not slip to the level of dictatorship, taking advantage of martial law,”
– summarized Ivan Stupak.
On January 2, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Constitution and legislation of Ukraine do not allow for elections during martial law. At the same time, he suggested that if active hostilities ended, the parliament would be able to lift martial law and set a date for the elections. The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, also emphasized that the presidential elections in Ukraine will be held immediately after the end of the war.
According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the next presidential election should be held in March 2024. However, due to the imposed martial law, they were postponed indefinitely.
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Who are Ukrainians ready to support in the next presidential election?
If the presidential election were held in the near future, 36.1% of Ukrainians would vote for the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi. This is according to the results of a Socis poll for December 2024, which is available to NV.
The current president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ranks second in the rating with the support of 24.3% of voters. Less than 10% of respondents are ready to vote for former President Petro Poroshenko or non-factional MP Dmytro Razumkov.
Even lower rates are recorded for Batkivshchyna party leader Yulia Tymoshenko, volunteer and politician Serhiy Prytula, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Kyrylo Budanov, founder and first commander of the Azov regiment Andriy Biletsky, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, and European Solidarity MP Oleksiy Honcharenko.
If Zaluzhnyi does not participate in the election, in the second round between Zelenskyi and Poroshenko, 66.7% of respondents would support the current president, and 33.3% would support the leader of European Solidarity.
At the same time, in a hypothetical second round of elections, Zaluzhnyi would win a convincing victory over Zelenskyi – 68.4% to 32.6%.
CEC prepares for possible end of martial law – sources
Let me remind you, earlier sources
“The CEC is constantly working out mechanisms, holding meetings and preparing for the fact that martial law may be announced at any time. However, there are no instructions to prepare for the elections on a specific date.”
sourcesin the CEC
The CEC representatives emphasized that after the martial law is lifted, the parliament should call presidential elections within 90 days. Currently, according to the source
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