Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing increasing demands to organize elections during wartime, despite the constitutional prohibition on holding such elections while martial law persists.
Zelenskyy, who assumed office in 2019, is being urged to consider elections by Mykhailo Fedorov, the young and well-liked former defense minister recently removed from his position.
While Fedorov has not provided a specific timeline, he asserts that Ukraine needs to establish “a legal, safe, and feasible mechanism that will enable the renewal of its full democratic process even amid a prolonged conflict.”
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Some analysts argue that elections are currently impractical, given the ongoing full-scale war with Russia that began in February 2022.
Nevertheless, the political implications of these calls for reform may be something that Zelenskyy cannot disregard, regardless of whether elections are imminent.
In what many see as Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy’s biggest challenge since the 2022 Russian invasion, ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has publicly called for a wartime presidential election. Federov’s firing last month triggered protests across Ukraine.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former Ukrainian government official, remarked on Wednesday in a post on X that Fedorov has transformed the election issue into “a dynamic domestic political topic,” although he has not accelerated the chances of their imminent occurrence.
He speculated that Zelenskyy, if faced with sufficient pressure from ongoing protests, might reveal a way for Ukraine to conduct a vote in the future, whether “after the conflict or under wartime conditions.”
A popular figure
Before his dismissal, the 35-year-old Fedorov was perceived as a reformist and technologically adept member of Zelenskyy’s cabinet.
Born in 1991, the year Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union, Fedorov had previously held the position of Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation and had been a strong advocate for utilizing drone warfare in the struggle against Russia.
An image of former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov is seen at a rally held in Kyiv in July. The rally was held to denounce the decision by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dismiss Fedorov after six months in the post. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press)
Fedorov was appointed as defense minister in January. His removal in July sparked protests across Ukraine, with demands for Zelenskyy to reverse the decision.
Fedorov indicated he turned down offers for other roles in the government, asserting that he would not accept any position aside from the defense minister role.
However, Zelenskyy did not reconsider, appointing Yevhenii Khmara to the defense position. The appointment was confirmed by Ukrainian lawmakers on Wednesday.
Can elections truly be held?
There are doubts about the feasibility of holding elections at this time due to the challenges posed by the ongoing war with Russia.
This sentiment is echoed by Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a veteran combat medic who had previously initiated protests to reinstate Fedorov in July.
“I cannot envision how to logistically enable voting for the thousands of service members currently engaged at the front,” he expressed on X, in a message where he wished Khmara well and indicated the protest had concluded.
A man walks in a street market in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, which was damaged by a Russian drone strike. (Reuters)
Lesia Bidochko, a policy fellow at the European Policy Institute in Kyiv, similarly believes that an election process is not realistically achievable, given that millions of Ukrainians are either displaced, living abroad, or serving in the military.
She contends that Fedorov has shifted towards “a populist approach” by advocating for elections.
“At present, it seems like a clever way to occupy the opposition space without assuming responsibility for the logistics,” she remarked regarding Fedorov’s stance.
Andrew Chang explains why Ukraine is carrying out drone attacks on warehouses owned by Wildberries — Russia’s most profitable online retailer.
(Photo credits: Wildberries, Reuters, Adobe Stock and Getty Images)
Ukrainian legislator Lesia Vasylenko stated that it is “impractical” to discuss elections at this time.
“It would necessitate a constitutional amendment,” she explained to Times Radio, noting that organizing such a change is already a “challenging enough task in peacetime, and under martial law, it is nearly impossible.”
So far, Zelenskyy has not publicly addressed Fedorov’s request, but the president’s communications advisor Dmytro Lytvyn conveyed to reporters that “Russia’s daily drone and missile attacks provide a clear answer to this question.”
Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, described any attempt to conduct elections during wartime as “a very high-risk gamble” that could undermine national unity and might be manipulated by Moscow.
“This would create an opening for Russian interference to wage war through other means,” she told Germany’s Deutsche Welle broadcaster.
Russia has claimed that Zelenskyy is illegitimate due to his term ending in May 2024, arguing that he cannot negotiate peace agreements on Ukraine’s behalf. U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the absence of elections in a December interview with Politico, stating it was time for a vote.