The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, has said that the constitution does not prohibit holding elections during wartime.
"There is no such prohibition in the constitution. Such a ban is contained in the Law of Ukraine 'On the legal regime of martial law'. Therefore, there is no constitutional ban on holding elections during martial law. But there is another important thing... we need to ensure a balance," Stefanchuk said on the air of the news telethon.
According to him, parliament should continue "its work, should adopt the necessary legislative acts", while, on the other hand, "this democracy that exists in society should not frozen".
"And that's why the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Cox, and other colleagues say that efforts should be made to make this happen. Therefore, this issue may be a matter of discussion," the speaker noted.
Stefanchuk said that the issue of holding elections during the war could be debatable and that an "important decision" should be made in this regard. This will make it possible, "on the one hand, to ensure stability in the state so that the state is not torn apart by elections during the war, but on the other hand, to ensure this flow of democracy, which is what Ukraine is fighting for," he added.
Stefanchuk also noted that the issue of elections "will be actualised in the near future".
On 26 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted draft laws to parliament to extend general mobilisation and martial law. MPs approved them the next day. Thus, martial law will last at least until 15 November.