Former Defense Minister Calls for Ukrainian Elections

 

TT 

 

Published 22.20

 

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, pictured here from July this year. Photo: Dan Bashakov/AP/TT

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is calling for the government to call elections.

– We cannot let Putin decide when Ukrainians will choose their government, he says.

Just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky formally nominated Yevheniy Chmara, former head of the SBU security service, to the post of defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov released a recorded speech on YouTube.

In it, he calls for an election that, according to the constitution, cannot be held when martial law is in force in Ukraine.

– (Ukraine) needs a legal, safe and realistic mechanism for holding elections during a protracted war, he says according to the Kyiv Independent.

– Democracy is part of what we are fighting for today (against Russia).

Fedorov was impeached in July, leading to several protests and demonstrations.

Zelenskyy's term expires in the spring of 2024 after five years in office.