In parliament, preparations for organizing and holding elections after the war have been underway for a long time. Fedir Venislavskyi, a People's Deputy from the "Servant of the People" faction and a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, told UNN that he does not rule out that these preparations could be adapted to current challenges. At the same time, he emphasized that this is extremely difficult.
Details
Work on projects for holding post-war elections has been ongoing for a long time. I think the existing developments can be adapted to current challenges
The fact that the work is being carried out was also confirmed by MP Volodymyr Vatras, a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Legal Policy, who reported that First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Kornienko, who also commented today on the possibility of holding elections, is involved in it. At the same time, he stated the absence of legislative developments.
Currently, there are no legislative initiatives, no drafts, not even any rough drafts, as they say, of such legislation, and therefore this indicates that we need to work on it if we want it to appear
According to him, the creation of such documents can only be discussed after a broad discussion in parliament with the participation of the public and the government.
Such things must undergo a sufficiently serious discussion in parliament with representatives of various public or civic organizations. Of course, the government must actively participate in this, because there are many issues that fall within the government's competence. Accordingly, to start such a process, everyone probably needs to sit down together, talk, and understand where we can all move forward together in parliament, developing this legislation
The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine noted that elections under current conditions are complicated by a number of factors: the participation of military personnel at the front, voting by citizens abroad, the register of internally displaced persons - voters, and the inability to guarantee security during voting.
We cannot guarantee security either on election day or during campaigning in a very significant part of the territory, because our villages and towns are near the front line. Security agencies must assess this. The security of organizing and holding elections is one of the key issues that currently concerns MPs. Of course, the main question is how to ensure the security of the electoral process, of polling stations located on the contact line. After all, we understand the capabilities of FPV drones, and we understand the capabilities of our enemy regarding the use of ballistics, and polling stations are places of mass gatherings of people
Venislavskyi considers solving the security issue practically unrealistic.
But the main legal obstacle remains the constitutional prohibition of holding elections during martial law. And changing the Basic Law during this period is also prohibited.
We have a Constitution. As long as martial law is in effect, one simply cannot even talk about these things, because, in fact, the Constitution cannot be changed during martial law. This is also an important point that everyone needs to remember
Recall
Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the country's readiness, emphasizing the need to resolve security issues and the legal framework. He also called on the United States and European partners to help ensure security for holding elections.
Also, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a conversation with people's deputies regarding holding elections under martial law. The President expects the deputies to offer their vision on this issue.