The Constitution does not prohibit holding elections during martial law, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk has said.
“There is no such prohibition (on holding elections during martial law) in the Constitution. This prohibition is contained in the law of Ukraine “On the legal regime of martial law”. And therefore, as if there is no constitutional prohibition to hold elections during martial law,” – said Stefanchuk in an interview with the TV channel “Rada” in the air of a single telethon.
At the same time, the speaker of the Parliament emphasized that at the moment it is necessary to adhere to the balance.
“On the one hand – yes, the Parliament must continue its work, must adopt the necessary legislative acts. We are entering the budget process and these are very important things. On the other hand we should realize that there should be no stagnation of the democracy that exists in society. And that is why the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr. Cox, and other colleagues say that it is still necessary to make efforts to implement this,” – said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.
According to him, this issue may be a matter of discussions.
“And I think that we need to make some important decisions on this (issue), so that on the one hand – to ensure stability in the state, so that the state is not torn by elections during the war, but on the other hand – to ensure this flow of democracy, which is what Ukraine is fighting for in principle,” he said.
Asked whether he would support changes to the election law, Stefanchuk said: “Let’s see how this issue will be resolved. But I think it will be updated in the near future.”
As reported earlier, PACE head Tiny Cox said earlier that it was necessary to hold free and fair elections in Ukraine despite the war.
