this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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[–] Meltrax 161 points 8 months ago (1 children)

"Zelensky follows the laws in the Ukraine Constitution while the country continues to be at war"

  • FTFY, dickbag headline writer
[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Yeah didn't this come up as a clickbait non-issue last year?

[–] [email protected] 160 points 8 months ago (44 children)

it's not that he is refusing to hold elections. headline is, of course, misleading.

the country's constitution literally prohibits elections during martial law, a state the country has been in since the day russia started the war.

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[–] whileloop 74 points 8 months ago (14 children)

I wonder how many people actually have a problem with this. Very few I'd suspect. Zelensky still seems popular within Ukraine, and I think most would agree that this isn't a good time for a change in leadership. Plus elections are expensive and nobody in the occupied space would be able to vote. Yeah I think this was the right call.

[–] fluke 52 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Yes. This is a inflammatory headline purely to try and push an agenda.

There was literally a poll a couple of months ago that showed something like 80% of Ukrainians were in favour of not having elections.

Not to even mention that Ukraine is under Marshall Law, and per their laws disallows elections. And don't even get me started on the entire premise of running elections in a country where a quarter of the landmass is under enemy occupation and the logistics of getting votes from 100s of thousands of deployed troops and the serious security concerns of the election itself from Russian attacks.

In my opinion Newsweek have just outed themselves here and the question is for who?

[–] whileloop 24 points 8 months ago

Probably trying to paint a narrative that Zelensky is undemocratic and corrupt, which some people in the US might believe.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

Look at the house GOP who gave a big military aid package to Netanyahu but nothing to Ukraine.

[–] TheUsualButBlaBlaBla 16 points 8 months ago (6 children)

Most of my Ukranian friends would not vote for him in an election, it’s a bit of an ‘open secret’ in the country that he’s seen as a wartime leader who would be expected to step aside in peacetime.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's not much of a secret, he has said so himself.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

He was a stand up comedian before? Seems like he thought he'd be a peacetime leader.

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[–] netburnr 55 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Newsweek is trash for that headline.

[–] SheeEttin 16 points 8 months ago

Usually they have a "fairness meter" on their articles, but it seems to be missing from this one.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don't think this is unreasonable. Citizens in occupied territory won't be able to vote and elections would just add pressure to a country that's fighting a major conflict on its own soil.

However I would expect Zelensky to hold free and fair elections as soon as the conflict ends, especially if he wants Ukraine to be part of the EU and eventually NATO

[–] [email protected] 26 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Not to mention that Russia would absolutely bomb voting centers.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I can see his point. They're in the middle of a fight for their existence. Why would you hold an election, particularly if he's doing a good job of it? Yes, I concede that this is a slippery slope for democracy, in that this is the very rationale that dictators use to shore up power. However, the grounds that they make those claims are usually against imagined foes rather than an actual country invading yours.

Day 1 after they kick russia out permanently? Election.

[–] sylver_dragon 15 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Day 1 after they kick russia out permanently? Election.

You'd actually want to schedule it a bit further out than this. Once the war is over, political parties will need to time organize, build infrastructure and campaign in an environment where the weather isn't "sunny with a chance of bombs later". Holding elections, with any sort of opposition having not had time to campaign is one of the more insidious anti-democratic tricks. As it leads to people voting for the "devil they know", even if the opposition isn't a devil at all.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

I'm with you, I'm just being illustrative here.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Why would you hold an election, particularly if he’s doing a good job of it?

Well, that's up for debate and should be decided by the people. As you said: It's a slippery slope and I'll add the way to hell is paved with good intentions.

[–] Kbobabob 13 points 8 months ago

Seems reasonable for now.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

Given Russia's penchant for messing with elections (and with Ukrainian officials), it seems prudent as a short-term measure.

[–] Shardikprime 6 points 8 months ago

I mean this is not the lack of democracy you want to make it look like. Its common sense

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