Zelenskyy was ready for elections but backed away over possible Zaluzhnyi candidacy – ex-defence minister Fedorov

Ukraine's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was prepared to hold elections before the end of the war but abandoned the idea because Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former commander-in-chief, might take part.

Source: Fedorov in the Ukrainska Pravda article "Mykhailo Fedorov's election bid: How the former defence minister outplayed Yermak, became a problem for Zelenskyy and beat a deadly disease" (English translation coming soon)

Details: Fedorov said that as early as June he had proposed that elections be held. He believes they could be organised before the war ends, with a presidential election first and parliamentary elections to follow.

According to Fedorov, Zelenskyy had initially been prepared to go ahead with the plan but changed his mind because Zaluzhnyi might run.

Quote from Fedorov: "I told the president directly: 'We need to hold elections because then you will stop thinking about them and start thinking about your legacy.' He asked: 'What's in it for you?' I replied: 'Victory in the war.'"

More details: Fedorov also said that after he began publicly advocating for elections, no one had approached him with an offer to finance a possible political venture, although, in his words, "there were plenty of interested parties".

One Ukrainska Pravda source among senior members of Zelenskyy's team said Fedorov is now viewed as a political opponent, including because of his position towards the president.

Some members of the opposition also view Fedorov as a rival to Zaluzhnyi, the source added.

One senior member of Zelenskyy's team said: "He is seen by everyone, except Zhelezniak and a few other MPs, as a political opponent. The opposition sees Misha that way because he is effectively competing with Zaluzhnyi, whom Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko [Ukraine's fifth president] planned to support. Batkivshchyna [parliamentary faction led by Yuliia Tymoshenko] is against elections now because, for some reason, they believe Yulia's ratings will improve after the war. The Servant of the People [parliamentary faction] sees Misha as an opponent because he is against the president and all of us. So now he is a non-system opposition politician – he is against everyone."

Background:

• In his address on 18 August, Fedorov called for measures to ensure that Russia does not get to decide when Ukrainians can once again elect their government.
• The BBC, citing sources, reported that the Ukrainian President's Office believes that Fedorov's idea of elections being held lacks "realism".
• Ukrainska Pravda sources close to Fedorov said that his call for elections did not mean he wanted "them held tomorrow", but was intended to highlight the need to make thorough preparations and resolve all the issues related to the process in detail.
• In an interview with CBS on 16 September, Zelenskyy reiterated that elections cannot be held while active hostilities continue due to a number of factors: legislation, the logistics of organising voting abroad and in temporarily occupied territories, and safety concerns.

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