Ukraine's political parties agree to postpone elections until after the war

All political parties represented in the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) signed a memorandum in mid-November agreeing to postpone the next elections until after martial law has ended.

Source: Verkhovna Rada website; Oleksandr Korniienko, First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, in a comment for Ukrainska Pravda

Details: The agreement was reached at a meeting held in a format known as the Jean Monnet Dialogue for Peace and Democracy on 10-12 November in Zakarpattia.

In the conclusions that were published as a result of this meeting, the Verkhovna Rada leadership, together with the chairs and delegated representatives of parliamentary factions and groups of the 9th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, specifically state that they "have agreed that future free and fair national elections (parliamentary, presidential) shall be held after the end of the war and the end of martial law with a period of time sufficient to prepare for elections (at least six months after the end of martial law)."

Signatories to the document include Davyd Arakhamiia from the Servant of the People faction, Yuliia Tymoshenko from Batkivshchyna (Fatherland), Iryna Herashchenko in her capacity as co-chair of the European Solidarity faction, Oleksandra Ustinova from the Holos (Voice) faction, and representatives from other parliamentary groups.

The memorandum states that the elections must be conducted in accordance with the current electoral code, which retains the electoral systems used for both national and local elections and restores the standards that guarantee the competitiveness of candidates running on the same party list (such as eliminating the electoral quota threshold of 2,556 that was previously required in order to put forward a candidate on the electoral list).

Quote: "We are convinced that the future national elections will be of huge significance for Ukraine's democratic prospects and that they must be held in compliance with international standards.

However, we are also aware that as a result of the war and its aftermath, holding elections will present unique challenges that will require a broad political consensus if they are to be successfully resolved.

Therefore, within the framework of the next Jean Monnet Dialogue, we will continue our exchange of views on the principles that can become the cornerstones of future elections in Ukraine."

Details: It was also noted that the Dialogue's participants have decided to work on drafting a unique law that will govern the specifics of the first post-war elections.

First Deputy Speaker Oleksandr Korniienko confirmed in a statement to Ukrainska Pravda that the memorandum contains all of the commitments undertaken by the political parties.

"The Jean Monnet Dialogues on 10-12 November covered a wide range of issues, including elections," he said.

"I am not aware of any other similar meetings concerning elections at the moment," Korniienko said in response to a question about whether parliamentarians had returned to the topic of elections since the meeting.

Reference: The meeting held on 10-12 November as a Jean Monnet Dialogue for Peace and Democracy was the ninth since October 2016 and the third to be held during the 9th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada. It was the second in-person meeting since the start of the Russian Federation’s unprovoked full-scale military aggression.

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