New laws are needed for post-war elections - CEC head Didenko
The head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Oleh Didenko, believes that Ukraine will need to further regulate the issue of post-war elections at the legislative level, as the electoral legislation was created in peacetime, and the legislator could not have foreseen the scale of the consequences of a full-scale war.
Oleh Didenko said this in an interview with Ukrinform, answering the question of how the CEC will act after the cancellation of martial law, Censor.NET reports.
"We have legislation that stipulates that elections must be called within a month, otherwise three months. However, all these norms were written in peacetime. When creating them, the legislator could not have foreseen the circumstances in which we now live and the scale of the consequences caused by the full-scale war. As of now, we do not know when the war will end, when Ukraine will win, when we will be able to organize elections. I think we will need additional regulation at the legislative level," he said.
"It is already clear today that it will take a certain period to prepare for the elections. It is clear that a month will not be enough. Back in 2022, the Central Election Commission prepared the first set of proposals to change the electoral law regarding the preparation of post-war elections. In particular, we proposed to increase this period to 6 months," Didenko said.
According to him, a lot will depend on specific circumstances, and the final answer on the timing and algorithms of actions will be given by our parliament.
"It is necessary to take a systematic and balanced approach to the issue of post-war elections. The same Constitution lays down the principles of elections, in particular, that they should be free. Post-war elections must meet the best practices and democratic standards. This will open up the prospects of European integration for Ukraine and accelerate post-war recovery. Preserving the democratic vector of our country's development is a matter of our survival. Therefore, the post-war elections in Ukraine must be properly prepared and conducted," the CEC Chairman noted.
As a reminder, Ukraine was supposed to hold regular presidential elections on March 31, 2024. However, it is impossible to hold elections in the country during a full-scale war. In March, the CEC issued an explanation that if the president's term expires during martial law, his powers are extended until a new president elected after the war takes office.
