Zelensky says it’s ‘not the right time for elections’ in Ukraine
Zelensky says it’s ‘not the right time for elections’ in Ukraine
INCLUDING MY OWN COMMENTS
THE HILL
BY LAUREN SFORZA - 11/06/23
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Monday address that it is “not the right time for elections” in Ukraine as the end of his five-year term approaches.
Zelensky argued in his Monday video address that Ukraine should not have to deal with elections as it continues to attempt to fend off Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He previously had not ruled out Ukraine holding a presidential contest next year, though elections are currently suspended in the country under martial law.
“And finally, the waves of any politically divisive things must stop,” he said Monday. “We must realize that now is the time of defense, the time of the battle that determines the fate of the state and people, not the time of manipulations, which only Russia expects from Ukraine. I believe that now is not the right time for elections.”
“And if we need to put an end to a political dispute and continue to work in unity, there are structures in the state that are capable of putting an end to it and giving society all the necessary answers. So that there is no room left for conflicts and someone else’s game against Ukraine,” he said.
Presidential elections in Ukraine are scheduled to take place every five years, with the next one slated for next March. Zelensky was sworn into office in May 2019, meaning that his five-year term is set to expire in a few months.
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said in September that she did not know whether her husband would run for reelection in 2024. She also said at the time that the country’s ability to organize a free and fair election could factor into whether he would run for a second term.
“It will also depend whether our society would need him as a president, if he will feel that Ukrainian society will no longer wish him to be the president, he will probably not run,” Zelenksa said at the time. “But I will support him whatever decision he takes.”
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4296123-ukraine-russia-war-volodymyr-zelensky-not-the-right-time-elections/
MY COMMENTS:
In 1864, during a Civil War whose outcome was unpredictable, the country divided much more than Ukraine is today, no one even thought about canceling the elections, something that never crossed the mind of the American people. Not just this time, but in several wars after this one, including two world wars.
Abraham Lincoln was in a dilemma as he was almost certain to be defeated as the people were tired of the bloodshed. It was a war for two reasons: the maintenance of the Union of the United States of America and the abolition of the detestable slavery handed down by the Confederates. But even his allies questioned whether he had gone too far in making the war about abolition rather than simply the restoration of the Union. Lincoln faced pressure to cut a deal. “There have been men who have proposed to me to return to slavery the black warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee to their masters to conciliate the South,” Lincoln told two visitors to the White House. “I should be damned in time and in eternity for so doing.”
It seems that Zeleskyi is afraid to present himself to the Nation or nominate another candidate with his support, and lose. He knows his country is divided since Euromaidan “revolution” that wasn’t supported by the majority if Ukrainians. When he mentions “And finally, the waves of any politically divisive things must stop,” and “….we need to put an end to a political dispute and continue to work in unity, there are structures in the state that are capable of putting an end to it and giving society all the necessary answers. So that there is no room left for conflicts and someone else’s game against Ukraine…” – or against Zelenskyi? - he makes a statement against democracy and defends a dictatorship. The Constitution gives him this right as there cannot be an election when there is Martial Law. But he would only have to cancel it if he believed in democracy,
Which are the “structures in the state that are capable of putting an end to it and giving society all the necessary answers”? Should it be his security police that is attacking Monasteries and canceling at least 11 opposition parties? Or his allies in the corrupt American administration with his “Patron Saint of the Military-Industrial Complex” Tony Blinken? (see Alex Marlow’s ‘Breaking Biden’: Antony Blinken Is the Patron Saint of the Military-Industrial Complex, in this substack). Or his allies in the dictatorial European Union?
Whatever his planes are he doesn't have Lincoln's moral integrity.
HEITOR DE PAOLA