Despite Russia’s war in Ukraine and a nationwide state of martial law, some Western politicians are pushing the government in Kyiv to hold parliamentary and presidential elections a prospect that has left many Ukrainian officials scratching their heads.
The proposal initially floated by Tiny Cox, the Dutch head of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly was also pressed by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), during a visit to Kyiv last month with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), which otherwise focused on solidifying U.S. assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine.
Other Republicans have also taken up the cause, including conservative commentators like Tucker Carlson, who falsely accused Zelensky of canceling elections. Ukraine’s constitution prohibits elections under martial law.
Holding free and fair elections in wartime is virtually impossible and also ill-advised, according to Ukrainian officials, election experts and democracy advocates. Roughly one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory is now occupied by Russian forces. Millions of Ukrainians are displaced and many are living outside the country. Tens of thousands of soldiers are deployed to the front.
The pressure to hold elections, despite such obstacles, highlights the constant demand by some in the West that Ukraine prove its commitment to democracy, even though Ukrainians have twice risen up in mass pro-democracy demonstrations the Orange Revolution of 2003-4 and the Maidan Revolution of 2013-14.
Ukrainian officials say that in order to hold a major vote during wartime, considerable financial, logistical and legal hurdles must be overcome. In private, some say that the prospect is outright impossible, and could provide Moscow security forces with a means to infiltrate and weaken Ukraine from within.
“The Russians are pushing for this through their secret channels,” a Ukrainian official in the security apparatus said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. “There is no situation in which it is possible to have a democratic election during the war.”
The official said holding an election could give Russia an opportunity to manipulate and create divisions in Ukrainian society and among politicians, which for most of the war have disappeared to show solidarity while the country fights for its existence.
“It’s risky, bad for the country and senseless from a political point of view,” the official said adding: “It would undermine the very fragile political resilience of the Ukrainian state.”
But Kyiv officials also cannot dismiss the idea of holding elections out of hand and risk alienating key political players in the West, who are demanding elections and are crucial for Ukraine to maintain international financial and military assistance.
Former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said that holding elections during wartime would lead to Ukraine losing the war, as internal political disagreements differences that occur naturally in a democratic society shatter the national unity needed to defeat Russia.
“The price of holding elections in wartime will be a lost war,” Tymoshenko said in an interview in Brussels this month. “Unity is an indispensable resource for our victory.”
Tymoshenko also noted that soldiers fighting would have difficulty voting and are barred by law from seeking office in wartime. “Those who are sacrificing their lives on the front line, most of them will not be able to vote,” she said, adding: “Seven million Ukrainian people are now refugees, many living outside the country most of them will not be able to vote.”
In May, Cox, a Dutch politician, gave an interview to Ukrainian media in which he called on Kyiv to hold elections that were “as free and fair as possible.” He gave the example of Turkey holding elections directly after experiencing a major earthquake as proof that holding a vote was possible.
Cox later amended his comments, acknowledging that elections could not be held while Ukraine was under martial law, which is unlikely to be lifted before the war ends. But, he said, “at a certain moment there will be elections, and my advice is to start preparing for it as soon as possible.”
Graham made his push during a meeting with Zelensky while visiting Kyiv as part of a congressional delegation. At a news conference ahead of the meeting, he said it was “time for Ukraine to take the next step” in the “development of democracy, namely to hold elections in 2024.”
“I want this country to have free and fair elections, even when it’s under attack,” Graham said.