Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has banned opposition parties, arrested the opposition leader, raided Orthodox Christian churches, and nationalized the media. Now he has announced there will be no elections in 2024 and he will remain president “indefinitely.”
Zelensky told a fawning BBC journalist last week that there will be no Ukrainian presidential election in 2024 if martial law is still in effect, The New Voice of Ukraine reported.
According to the Biden administration, Ukraine will be supported “for as long as it takes” because it is “defending democracy.” Watch the State Department feign ignorance about the military dictatorship it’s supporting in Kiev:
The Grayzone's @cosgrove_iv asked the State Dept if it approved of Volodymyr Zelensky's cancellation of Ukraine's 2024 election on the grounds of martial law@StateDeptSpox said he wasn't aware of Zelensky's announcement, so we might have to follow-up pic.twitter.com/WZzf2E30tJ
— The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) June 28, 2023
When asked if parliamentary elections will be held this fall, Zelensky said, “If we have martial law, we cannot have elections. The constitution prohibits any elections during martial law. If there is no martial law, then there will be.”
However, in the latest interview he “expressed hope that there would be peace in Ukraine next year, and life would be returning to normal.”
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, also said this month that elections cannot take place in Ukraine under martial law, which Zelensky declared when Russia began the special military operation.
“Ukrainian legislation stipulates it is impossible to hold any elections during martial law. And this makes sense,” he said.
Stefanchuk added that if elections happen, it could “lead to the rupture of the state, which our enemy is waiting for. That is why I think the most correct and wise decision is to hold elections immediately after the end of martial law.”
After declaring martial law, Zelensky took steps to consolidate his power, including banning the main opposition party in Ukraine’s parliament, Opposition Platform — For Life, which held 44 seats at the time. He also banned ten other opposition parties and nationalized the media.