BREAKING

Kiev suspends all Ukraine elections this year, martial law intact

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 Aug 2023 16:04

Ukraine's president says that if 2024 elections are to be held, they must be funded by the United States and Europe.

Screengrab from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky giving a speech from Kiev, Ukraine, on March 21, 2022. (AFP)

Ukraine will not be holding any elections this year, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak announced on Tuesday.

His comment came after President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that he would want to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in 2024, citing wartime financial difficulties.

But Zelensky added that next year, votes could take place if they were funded by the US and Europe, and also conditioned that lawmakers must pass legislation amendments to allow holding votes under martial law.

"I will not take money from weapons and give it to elections. And this is stipulated by the law," the president said in a televised interview on Sunday.

"The president talks about it very cautiously, I could put it more straight. There will be no elections this year," Podolyak was quoted by the Ukrainian news website Strana.ua as saying.

The official said that election expenses, voting difficulties in areas witnessing armed confrontations, martial law, citizens on the front line who might want to join the race, and the millions of displaced Ukrainians inside and outside the country are all impeding the elections from being held.

Zelensky declared martial law the same day the war with Russia began, implementing a state of submission to military authority in times of tension and conflict.

Since then, the country's leader banned a large number of political parties, including the Opposition Platform - For Life, and halted their activities nationwide.

The martial law was extended several times, most recently in July, when it was renewed until November 15.