ZELENSKY IS NO LONGER THE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE
TERM ENDED MAY 20, 2024
Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in April 2019 and was sworn in on May 20. 2019 for a 5 year term. On Feb. 24 the 2022 Zelensky declared martial law and suspended all elections until 6 months after the end of hostilities. The parliament has agreed to this situation.
The fact that Zelensky is no longer considered by many as the legitimate president of Ukraine will likely have some consequences in the future. The war is not likely to be over for some time, so elections will not be able to be held for possibly years.
Russia has stated that Zelensky is now not protected and is a legitimate military target. The expected candidates for the presidency may very well now push for elections, and the military, which seems to be increasingly less supportive, may have ideas of their own.
Zelensky should have allowed elections in those provinces not in the conflict zone, it would have been an opportunity to show his support among the electorate and would have also given him an out if they no longer support him. It would have also demonstrated to the world that Ukraine is really a democracy. With this situation it opens up many paths for intrigue and instability.
It can now be expected that internal conflicts within the government will become more intense. Zelensky originally ran on coming to an agreement with Russia on their festering disputes, but shortly after his election he took a hard line adversarial position with Russia. Elections would have demonstrated whether he still had support of the electorate. With a void of a way to express that support or non-support it will likely create dangerous alternatives.
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