Zelenskyy was ready to hold elections but backed off because Zaluzhnyi might run, says ex-defence minister Fedorov

Former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been prepared to hold elections before the end of the war but abandoned the idea because former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi might have run.

Source: Fedorov quoted in the Ukrainska Pravda article "Mykhailo Fedorov's election bid: How the ex-defence minister outplayed Yermak, became a problem for Zelenskyy and beat a deadly disease" (English translation coming soon)

Details: Fedorov said he had proposed as early as June that elections be held. He believes they could be organised before the war ends, with a presidential election first and parliamentary elections to follow.

According to Fedorov, Zelenskyy was initially prepared to go ahead with the plan but changed his mind when he realised Zaluzhnyi might run.

Quote from Fedorov: "I told the president straight out: 'We need to hold elections because then you will stop thinking about them and start thinking about your legacy.' He asked: 'What's in it for you?' I replied: 'Victory in the war.'"

More details: Fedorov also said that after he began publicly advocating for elections, he received no offers of funding for a possible political venture, even though, according to him, "plenty of people were interested".

One senior member of Zelenskyy's team told Ukrainska Pravda that Fedorov is now viewed as a political opponent, partly because of his position towards the president.

Some members of the opposition also see Fedorov as a rival to Zaluzhnyi, the source added.

The member of Zelenskyy's team said: "He's seen as a political opponent by everyone except Zhelezniak and a few other MPs. The opposition sees Misha that way because he is effectively competing with Zaluzhnyi, whom Poroshenko planned to support.

Batkivshchyna [the parliamentary faction led by Yuliia Tymoshenko] is against elections right now because for some reason they believe Yuliia's ratings will improve after the war. Servant of the People sees Misha as an opponent because he is against the president and all of us. So now he is a non-system opposition politician – he is against everyone."

Background:

• In an address on 18 August, Fedorov called for measures to ensure that Russia does not get to decide when Ukrainians can once again elect their government.
• A source from the President's Office told the BBC that Fedorov's idea of holding elections demonstrates a "complete lack of realism".
• Fedorov's team told Ukrainska Pravda that his call for elections did not mean he wanted them held "tomorrow", but was intended to highlight the need to make thorough preparations and resolve all the issues related to the process in detail.
• In an interview with CBS on 16 September, Zelenskyy reiterated that elections cannot be held while active hostilities continue due to a number of factors: legislation, the logistics of organising voting abroad and in temporarily occupied territories, and safety concerns.

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