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Second front for Zelensky! REL: Ukraine secretly begins preparations for elections
2025-04-05 21:41:20 / BOTA
Volodymyr Zelensky, from a television star, became the president of Ukraine after a landslide victory in 2019.
Now, he is ready to face an even bigger electoral challenge: testing his presidency in the polls for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
Amid growing pressure from Western backers, Ukrainian authorities are quietly preparing the ground for new elections, votes that will test the strength of support for Zelensky and whether war-weary Ukrainians want new leadership.
Officials have denied that they are working in this direction, citing long-standing arguments that the state of war, which was declared shortly after Russian forces began their invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prevents elections from being held.
"We are not preparing to hold elections because elections in wartime are impossible to hold according to the Constitution, current laws and common sense, due to security challenges," Dmytro Lytvyn, a spokesman for the Presidential Office, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service.
But officials have actually begun planning the details and examining various aspects, starting with the printing of ballots, security at polling stations, and how the millions of Ukrainian refugees living abroad can vote.
“I see that in recent months there have been real preparations for the elections,” said Oleksiy Koshel, head of the non-governmental organization, the Committee of Voters of Ukraine. “We see a lot of signs of activity at the election headquarters, advertisements that are quietly circulating, millions of special information leaflets about party leaders that are being distributed.”
The campaign "has de facto already begun," Koshel said.
Olena Davlikanova, a Kiev-based researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, said there are many signals that political parties are preparing for new elections. But she said the elections cannot be held unless Russia agrees to a ceasefire.
"Many of us don't believe that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will keep his word," Davlikanova told REL. "Without a ceasefire, it is impossible to hold elections in Ukraine."
First as part of a beloved comedy troupe, and then as a fictional high school teacher catapulted to the presidency in the television series, Servant of the People, Zelensky scored a landslide victory in 2019, defeating then-president Petro Poroshenko in the election.
Ukrainasit u tërhoqën pasi ai ishte një fytyrë e re në skenën politike, ishte një person i mësuar me media, si dhe nga premtimet e tij për të normalizuar marrëdhëniet me Putinin dhe me Rusinë në përgjithësi. Megjithatë, më pak se tre vjet pas marrjes së postit të presidentit, Putin urdhëroi dërgimin e më shumë se 100.000 trupave në Ukrainë, duke nisur luftën më të madhe tokësore në Evropë që nga Lufta e Dytë Botërore.
Ukrainasit vazhduan të mbështesin udhëheqjen e Zelenskyt, edhe pse trupat e Kievit gjatë vitit të kaluar kanë pësuar disfatë pas disfate.
Trupat ruse po avancojnë ngadalë në disa fronte. Një kundërofensivë në vitin 2023 dështoi. Komandantët ushtarakë dhe liderët politikë po grinden për mënyrën se si të përforcojnë procesin e rekrutimit dhe të mbushin radhët. Oficeri kryesor ushtarak i vendit u largua nga detyra, ashtu si edhe ministri i Mbrojtjes.
Presidentët e Ukrainës zgjidhen për një mandat pesëvjeçar; Zelensky duhej të kishte kandiduar për rizgjedhje në vitin 2024. Por, zyrtarët qeveritarë insistojnë se një zgjedhje e re është e pamundur ligjërisht nën gjendjen e jashtëzakonshme të luftës, pa përmendur këtu edhe pengesat logjistike.
Kjo gjë i ka hapur derën kritikave nga jashtë. Putin, i cili ka vënë në pikëpyetje edhe ekzistencën e shtetit ukrainas, e ka akuzuar Zelenskyn se është president jolegjitim, për shkak të mosmbajtjes së zgjedhjeve. Javën e kaluar ai sugjeroi se i gjithë shteti duhet të vendoset nën një qeveri të përkohshme, të mbështetur nga Kombet e Bashkuara.
“Askujt nuk ia ndien fare se çfarë thotë Putini sepse ligjet ukrainase janë shumë të qarta: i gjithë pushteti është legjitim derisa të hiqet gjendja e luftës dhe zgjedhjet të mund të organizohen normalisht”, tha Davlikanova. “Prandaj, Putini mund të shkojë, e dini ju se ku”.
“Putini ia ka ofruar mbikëqyrjen OKB-së mbi Ukrainën”, tha ajo. “Ne po themi se ia ofrojmë OKB-së mbikëqyrjen mbi Moskën, sepse ata nuk kanë pasur zgjedhje të lira e fer që nga viti 1996”.
Por, ka pasur kritika edhe nga Shtetet e Bashkuara, furnizuesi më i madh me armë për ushtrinë ukrainase.
Pak para përplasjes publike në Zyrën Ovale në shkurt, presidenti amerikan, Donald Trump, – i cili ka një raport të tensionuar me Zelenskyn që nga mandati i tij i parë në Shtëpinë e Bardhë – e quajti Zelenskyn “diktator pa zgjedhje”.
Kritikat nga jashtë e kanë forcuar pozicionin e Zelenskyt në mesin e ukrainasve. Një sondazh i kryer nga Instituti Ndërkombëtar i Kievit për Sociologji tregoi se besimi ndaj Zelenskyt është dyfishuar në javët e fundit. Pak pas takimit në Zyrën Ovale, Parlamenti ukrainas miratoi një rezolutë në mbështetje të Zelenskyt dhe ajo thoshte se zgjedhjet e reja do të mbahen vetëm pasi të jetë në fuqi “një paqe gjithëpërfshirëse, e drejtë dhe e qëndrueshme”.
For Zelensky's supporters, this would push for a decision to hold elections as soon as possible, in order to eliminate any opponents from the race: first and foremost, Valery Zaluzhniy, the former army commander who is now Kiev's ambassador to London.
Zaluzhniy was removed from the leadership of the army by Zelensky after he openly questioned the government's decisions through a letter in November 2023.
Since taking up his position in London, Zaluzhniy has said nothing publicly about a run-off with Zelensky in the election. However, he has consistently come out on top or near the top in public opinion polls.
Other prominent public figures have also said they are considering challenging Zelensky if the election goes ahead. In February, Poroshenko, the businessman who Zelensky defeated in the election, attracted attention when he traveled to the United States to meet with US administration officials.
Speaking at a conference, Poroshenko said Zelensky should have worked on a national coalition. "Instead, we have a strange preparation for elections," he said.
"According to the information I have, the decision has been made to organize and hold presidential elections as soon as possible after the cessation of hostilities," Oleksiy Honcharenko, an opposition lawmaker, told REL.
Logistical hurdles
If a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement were to be respected, election law requires at least 60 days for candidates to campaign. If the campaign were to start on April 20, as the Finnish president has proposed to Trump, that would mean the election could be held in early July.
But the logistical details of organizing the election are massive. Millions of Ukrainians are refugees in foreign countries, and getting them to vote poses a major challenge. Also challenging is getting soldiers on the front lines to cast their ballots.
"Now, there seems to be a consensus in society and among politicians that a longer period of time is needed to prepare for elections after the end of the state of war than that stipulated by law," said Oleh Didenko, chairman of the Central Election Commission, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
While Ukrainians have welcomed American weapons, voters are wary about the sustainability of U.S. support in the future, Davlikanova said.
"Whatever the Americans are doing, whoever they are talking to, the Ukrainian people understand," she said.
"Therefore, we understand that we will rely on ourselves," she added./rel
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