MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. Ukraine plans to revise legislation to delay parliamentary and presidential elections after the conflict ends and martial law is lifted, said Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to Vladimir Zelensky's office.
The day before, head of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission Oleg Didenko said that the government intends to adjust legislation to postpone the elections. Under the current law, parliamentary and presidential elections must be announced within a month after the lifting of martial law. However, the government intends to delay the elections on the pretext that they will now take more time to prepare.
"Here, of course, the entire legislative and regulatory framework is being prepared for the post-war period, because as soon as martial law is removed, elections will need to be held within 60 days, and - here Mr. Didenko is absolutely right - it is necessary to make some adjustments to the laws <...>. Laws need to be amended and, of course, this will be done through parliament. Moreover, this is a rather lengthy procedure, again clarifying all legal parameters and the like," Podolyak said on his YouTube channel.
He said that after the lifting of martial law, it may take up to six months to prepare for the elections. "Martial law has been cancelled, after that [it should take] 3-6 months for full-fledged elections to take place, <...> the electoral process to be launched," he said.
Parliamentary and presidential elections are not held in Ukraine because of martial law. Zelensky's powers officially expired on May 20 last year, but he is doing everything to remain in power, including trying to remove potential political opponents and delay a peaceful settlement.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said, Zelensky's legitimacy is over, so it is important to understand who to deal with in Kiev to sign legally binding documents. Putin explained that the current Ukrainian leadership is currently illegitimate, which is a dangerous legal conflict that would devalue any outcome of the negotiations. On March 28, Putin noted that international practice suggests the possibility of introducing external governance, which will open the way to legitimate negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement.