Ukrainian ruling party head and parliament speaker explain conditions needed for referendum and war-time presidential election

David Arakhamiia, Head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, and Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), have explained to national security advisers of partner states that presidential elections and a referendum to approve a possible peace agreement could only be held on the condition of a ceasefire.

Source: Arakhamiia and Stefanchuk in a comment to journalists after a meeting with national security advisers of partner states on Saturday

Quote from Stefanchuk: "All allies understood that issues relating to the Constitution of Ukraine, which are regulated by the highest legislative act, cannot under any circumstances be the subject of either a nationwide or any other referendum. The only question that can be put to a referendum is one question: do you support the agreement?"

Details: Stefanchuk stressed that elections or a referendum could take place only when they meet international democratic and security standards.

He said that elections or a referendum may be held only under a ceasefire, and the format of their conduct – whether on one day or over two or three days – will depend on security guarantees.

When a journalist pointed out that Russia does not agree to a ceasefire for the duration of a referendum or elections, Arakhamiia replied: "If there is no draft agreement that can be put to a referendum, then there is no ceasefire. The idea is this: if there is a document that has been preliminarily confirmed by four sides – the US, Russia, Ukraine and European states – then this document is published online, it is discussed for 60 days by journalists, experts, civil society organisations, politicians and so on. Then, on a certain Day X, people come to the referendum… They have two ballots: one for the election of the next president, and the second, which asks whether you support the peace agreement, with options of yes or no. Then everything is counted. For this period, of course, there must be a ceasefire."

Arakhamiia explained that the referendum on a "peace agreement" is proposed to be held simultaneously with presidential elections in order to increase voter turnout.

Quote from Arakhamiia: "I explained this to the advisers. Why did the idea of combining presidential elections with a referendum arise at all? You know that a referendum has been held only once in Ukraine, in 1991 – we have no experience of conducting a nationwide referendum… According to the law, for a nationwide referendum to be recognised as legitimate, at least 50% of voters must participate. Before the war, there were 36 million people in the voter register. That means 18 million people must come to the referendum. Today, this is an unattainable figure…

Presidential elections are the largest electoral event in the country; usually, more than 10 million people come to vote. By combining presidential elections with a referendum, there is hope that as many people as possible will participate in the referendum, both in Ukraine and abroad. Then we will have a representative result, and this can become part of a peace plan."

Details: Arakhamiia also noted that during discussions within the working group on elections under martial law, "no one has clearly answered why hybrid voting is impossible", meaning the use of certain online tools either for the entire process or partially.

"For example, we have 6.5 million internally displaced persons. We have an IDP register in which we have only about 1 million, because they receive payments. But where are the other 5 million now, where do they live, at which polling station should they vote? Why not create an online tool – something like an online absentee certificate – where they can register at a polling station that is convenient for them? This is an online tool for conducting elections… For some reason, whenever we talk about elections, there is always some kind of aggression towards this," the faction leader said.

Background:

• On 24 December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine could submit a 20-point peace agreement for parliamentary ratification or hold a nationwide referendum, and could also decide to hold elections simultaneously with a referendum. According to Zelenskyy, holding a referendum would require at least 60 days and a full ceasefire for that period.
• On 29 December, US President Donald Trump stated that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had not agreed to a ceasefire for the duration of a possible referendum on a "peace plan" in Ukraine.
• On 29 December, Zelenskyy said that American partners were working to persuade Russia to agree to a ceasefire during a referendum in Ukraine. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine would need at least 60 days of ceasefire for this.
• On 22 December, Arakhamiia said a working group was being formed in parliament to deal with the issue of presidential elections during martial law.
• Later, Arakhamiia said that the working group on elections should examine whether voting could be conducted in a hybrid format: online and offline.

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