Zelenskyy says he’ll run for second presidential term if war continues – He said in an interview with Romania Digi24.ro media “I can’t run away during the war…”
by housecatspeaks
Zelenskyy says he’ll run for second presidential term if war continues – He said in an interview with Romania Digi24.ro media “I can’t run away during the war…”
by housecatspeaks
6 comments
Is the sentiment that someone would run against him? From the outside it seems like the majority back his handling of things.
I as an outsider I do not know the grievances the Ukraine people have with the way the government’s actions in Ukraine, i just hope that during this time people do not use their differences to vote him out, i doubt it would happen but if it did Ukraine would lose what is undoubtable the best leader they could ever have hoped for during a wartime.
The work he has put in the travelling, the show of strength and ability to get help from allies is not something most leaders could achieve.
Exit strategy for Putin: withdraw to pre-2014 borders, Zelenskyy doesn’t run in the elections, Russia has won (something).
I think that’s the best Russia can get. Offer won’t stand for long.
Therrrre we go, that’s better.
As a Ukrainian American, here is some context.
He originally ran on a one term platform. He wanted to set an example to prevent future power struggles. But now that war broke out, he’a in a conundrum. Leaders typically don’t leave during wars, and/or they are usually easily re-elected no matter how poorly a war is going (see LBJ/Nixon).
If Ukraine holds elections, they wouldn’t be fair since so many Ukrainians are displaced living around the world (Russia would point at this with their propaganda mocking the election results). They would also be a logistics nightmare at a time when Ukraine needs to focus on their war efforts. Additionally, there are security risks as we know what Russia likes to do with civilians (just look at their massacre of over 50 civilians in a cafe last week).
If Ukrainian parliament simply extends his presidency an extra 2 years for example, then Russia would also mock this and call it an autocracy. It’s a lose/lose situation.
I’m sure deep down Zelenskyy would love to retire & relax, but Ukraine needs him. If he didn’t re-run or extend his presidency then it would feel like a huge loss for Ukrainian morale.
But overall, he is wildly popular. He has won over the staunchest of critics from before the war. Most of my family didn’t approve of him during the first month of the war. They have quickly since done a 180 and are practically Zelenskyy fanboys.
I hope that **no** elections are held in Ukraine – not only does the Constitution explicitly **prohibit** elections under martial law (and if you violate the Constitution, how are you better than Russia, where the Constitution doesn’t mean squat?), how are you even going to hold elections when huge swaths of your territory are occupied? Just ignore the voices of the people in those regions? That practically **defeats the purpose of holding the elections in the first place** – to make **every** voice be heard.
Plus, organizing the elections would take a lot of monetary and logistical resources, distract people with intracommunal feud, not to mention the danger it would put all of the people into by making them gather in a single place all at once, especially near the front line, all of which are completely inappropriate.
**None** of that is worth it, just because some of Ukraine’s allies apparently want to see it hold elections; yeah, because it’s not clear what Ukraine is fighting for!