I don't think this is unreasonable. Citizens in occupied territory won't be able to vote and elections would just add pressure to a country that's fighting a major conflict on its own soil.

However I would expect Zelensky to hold free and fair elections as soon as the conflict ends, especially if he wants Ukraine to be part of the EU and eventually NATO

[–] Kbin_space_program@kbin.social 23 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Not to mention that Russia would absolutely bomb voting centers.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] Doubledee@hexbear.net 7 points 10 months ago

Pressure to do what?

As someone who lives in a country that's been in more or less continuous conflict since I was born I would be pretty upset if the leadership here decided elections couldn't happen during wartime.

[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Zelensky has openly declared many times that the war would not end until Crimea (a territory Ukraine did not control when Zelensky was elected) was taken back, despite there being no hope of such a victory for the Ukrainian government. He has created a set of parameters where, if he is consistent with what he says, there will never be an election for as long as he survives.

For someone who was elected on the basis of promising to take a more conciliatory stance to the breakaway states, perhaps to avoid exactly the conflict he lead Ukraine into, this shit cannot be reasonable.

[–] copandballtorture@hexbear.net 3 points 10 months ago (12 children)

Zelensky wasn't elected to be a wartime leader; his mandate from the public was to do the opposite. Perhaps he has won over some citizens during the conflict, but he owes it to the people of Ukraine to give them the choice to pursue peace.

[–] Doubledee@hexbear.net 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I don't even understand what the stakes are from his perspective, he's already banned like a dozen political parties and nobody cares, what do you have to fear holding an election when you're allowed to ban people who oppose you? It's a free rubber stamp basically, you get democracy points and to renew your mandate by being the only legal option, it's a win win.

load more comments (11 replies)

load more comments (27 replies)

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 26 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

How do you expect Elections to work? All the soldiers take a few hours off of fighting to put their ballots in?

The rest of the citizens amass themselves in a few concentrated areas?

People who are being bombed or in hiding from russia leave their shelters and are exposed for the day? I'm sure if they wear an official uniform, that Russian soldiers won't be tempted to copy the uniform, and replace the ballots.

So, who wants to volunteer to hand out the ballot papers? I'm sure Putin would be more than happy to

[–] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I can see his point. They're in the middle of a fight for their existence. Why would you hold an election, particularly if he's doing a good job of it? Yes, I concede that this is a slippery slope for democracy, in that this is the very rationale that dictators use to shore up power. However, the grounds that they make those claims are usually against imagined foes rather than an actual country invading yours.

Day 1 after they kick russia out permanently? Election.

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Day 1 after they kick russia out permanently? Election.

You'd actually want to schedule it a bit further out than this. Once the war is over, political parties will need to time organize, build infrastructure and campaign in an environment where the weather isn't "sunny with a chance of bombs later". Holding elections, with any sort of opposition having not had time to campaign is one of the more insidious anti-democratic tricks. As it leads to people voting for the "devil they know", even if the opposition isn't a devil at all.

[–] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 5 points 10 months ago

I'm with you, I'm just being illustrative here.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] scorpionix@feddit.de 5 points 10 months ago

Why would you hold an election, particularly if he’s doing a good job of it?

Well, that's up for debate and should be decided by the people. As you said: It's a slippery slope and I'll add the way to hell is paved with good intentions.

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 6 points 10 months ago

Given Russia's penchant for messing with elections (and with Ukrainian officials), it seems prudent as a short-term measure.

load more comments