Stefanchuk admits preparations for elections: “new rules” are being prepared
18 June 14:26
For the first time, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk has officially confirmed that the parliament is preparing for the upcoming elections after the end of martial law. He said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the speaker, these will be unique elections under the new rules.
“It is very important for us that elections are held in Ukraine, but not the kind of ‘elections’ that are held in the Russian Federation. It is very important for us that these elections that are taking place in Ukraine are recognized as democratic all over the world. This is the number one issue,”
– said the parliamentary speaker.
Stefanchuk traditionally contrasted Ukrainian democratic principles with the Russian system of government, noting:
“Look at the message: “Putin has been in power for 25 years”. They have even forgotten that there was such a character as Medvedev. They are clearly saying that for a quarter of a century one old man has been corrupting the entire system in a great country, and 140 million people are nothing to him.”
Unique unconstitutional elections
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada explained that the upcoming elections will be fundamentally different from all previous ones in the history of Ukraine.
“These will be unique elections that have never been held in Ukraine before. And they do not fall under any elections defined in the Constitution. Because these are not term elections and certainly not early elections,”
– Stefanchuk explained.
In other words, Stefanchuk said that these upcoming elections will be unconstitutional. According to him, these elections will have a special name:
“Most likely, they will be called ‘term elections held after the end of martial law’. And it will be just a one-time law that will make it possible to hold these elections and then jump to the normal system, which is defined in the Constitution and the Electoral Code.”
Quiet preparations without publicity
Stefanchuk revealed that preparatory work is already underway, but is deliberately kept out of the public space.
“And we are quietly, quietly talking about all this. But we don’t want to bring it to the political level. Because it will start right away: “Tomorrow is the election!”
– the speaker explained.
He added that
“We constantly have these discussions at the level of the conciliation board, at the level of committees. We just try not to make them public, because as soon as someone starts talking, everyone will immediately say: that’s it, let’s go to the polls!”
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Difficult organizational issues
Stefanchuk outlined the numerous challenges that will be faced in organizing the elections. These include voting at the front, the issue of the occupied territories, and voting abroad.
Also, the Ukrainian government still does not know where to find funding for this and even how to invite observers to the elections.
Separate parliamentary and presidential elections
Regarding the format of the upcoming elections, Stefanchuk noted that they will most likely be held separately. In this case, he referred to the Constitution.
“On the one hand, the Constitution prohibits holding elections together, so it will most likely be separate elections. How disjointed are they? What are the first ones? What are the second ones? So there are a lot of questions that need to be answered,”
– he explained.
But the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada emphasized that solutions have already been developed for each issue:
“For each of these issues, we have already spelled out the pros and cons, what the Central Election Commission needs to do, what our other colleagues need to do so that when the time comes, the Parliament will have ready-made legislation that we will offer to the public.”
But not now!
At the same time, Stefanchuk sternly reminded us of the legal restrictions: any elections are possible only after martial law is lifted:
“As long as martial law is in place, there can be no elections in Ukraine. This is what the Electoral Code provides for, this is what the law on the legal regime of martial law provides for. Period.”
The last presidential elections in Ukraine took place on March 31 and April 21, 2019, and the parliamentary elections on July 21, 2019. According to the Constitution, the next presidential election was to be held on March 31, 2024, and the parliamentary election in the fall of 2023. However, according to Article 19 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law,” it is prohibited to hold presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as local elections, during martial law.
Thus, elections can be called only after the martial law is lifted by presidential decree and the relevant decision of the Verkhovna Rada.
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