UKRAINE IMPLEMENTED MARTIAL LAW | Banning Elections | TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY 🚫

Ukraine Isn't Having Elections Because They've Implemented Martial Law To Protect 'Democracy'. Ukrainian law currently prohibits the country from holding any elections while martial law is in place. However, the Ukrainian Constitution doesn’t provide a clear definition of the continuity of power during martial law. Some legal minds have argued that it might be advisable for members of the Ukrainian Parliament to draft a submission to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) so the Court can provide the official interpretation of the articles in question.

The ‘Servants’ themselves deny any participation in the process. However, they don’t reject the possibility altogether, saying that one of the governing party’s allies in parliament may initiate the submission. Those in opposition could also have enough signatures to submit such a document, such as resentful ‘ex-Servants’, including its former leader Dmytro Razumkov and his group of MPs.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Dmytro Lubinets is another potential actor with the right to a constitutional submission. But Lubinets declares that such action is unnecessary, as the legitimacy of both the Parliament and the President is not in doubt during this period of emergency.

Moreover, the Constitutional Court itself is in limbo. In late May the Court might find itself on the verge of only having a skeleton staff of judges to make a quorum.

What is going on? Will there be a submission? And will Ukraine have a full-blooded Constitutional Court?

LB.ua. tries to figure this out.

20 May 2024 will mark the end of the five years of President Volodymyr Zelensky in office, as defined by the Constitution. If it wasn’t for the full-scale war, the country would be electing a President on the last Sunday of the month, the 31 March.

However, Article 19 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the legal regime of martial law’ stipulates that parliamentary, presidential and local elections are all prohibited under martial law.

At the same time, Article 83 of the Constitution clearly stipulates that “If the term of powers of the Verkhovna Rada [Parliament] of Ukraine expires while martial law or a state of emergency is in effect, its powers shall be extended until the day of the first meeting of the first session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine elected after the cancellation of martial law or the state of emergency.”

However, the Constitution lacks clear instructions should the President’s powers expire while martial law is in effect. There’s only Article 108 stressing that “The President of Ukraine shall exercise his powers until the assumption of office by the newly elected President of Ukraine.”

Early termination can result from one of the following four causes:

1) resignation

2) inability to exercise their powers for medical reasons

3) removal from office by impeachment

4) death

And, according to the Constitution's Article 112, in the event of early termination of the Powers of the President, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will assume the duties of head of state.

The Constitution doesn’t provide a clear definition on the continuity of power during martial law. Opinions were voiced that it might be advisable to draft a submission to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) so that the Court can provide the official interpretation of the articles in question. In particular, in order to put a stop to speculation spread by Russian propaganda that “after the March elections in the Russian Federation, Putin will remain a legitimate President, while in Ukraine things will be a lot more ambiguous.” The Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine already pinpointed this message as a part of the greater scheme of the Russian enemy’s special operation ‘Maidan v.3.0.’ which aims to destabilise Ukraine.

Speaking with a journalist from Fox News in late February, the President was directly asked a question about “cancelling the elections”.

Volodymyr Zelensky replied that should the election take place, he would certainly win. However, “nobody [has] cancelled any elections. The law states that no elections can be held while martial law is in effect, period. We have a martial law in place. It isn’t me adopting some new legislation, it’s the Law of Ukraine that has been around from the very beginning, and nobody ever overturned it.”