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Ukrainian parliament speaker moves to begin legislative process on holding elections

According to Ruslan Stefanchuk, the biggest thing will be to create conditions for the military to vote at the front and their right to be elected

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk has signed an order to create a working group to prepare a draft law on elections, according to a video of his speech posted by the newspaper "Novosti. Live."

"The working group will consist of representatives of all parliamentary parties and groups, as well as the Central Election Commission. We will need to work out some issues to hold elections in such conditions [of military operations]," he said.

According to Stefanchuk, the biggest thing will be to create conditions for the military to vote at the front and their right to be elected. It is also necessary to understand how millions of Ukrainians living abroad will vote, and solve some other problems, including issues with observers who must confirm that the polls are democratic and lawful, he added.

"I don't want to speculate now about when they will take place and under what conditions. These issues will be resolved by the working group," Stefanchuk said.

He believes that the law on elections during military operations will be a one-time measure. "This law will be of one-time use - specifically for these elections," he said.

Earlier, chairman of Russia’s Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova said that in the current conditions holding full-fledged democratic elections in Ukraine is unlikely. According to her, the electoral process in the country is in such a disorganized state that any attempts to launch it will be formal. Pamfilova also pointed out that the initiative to hold elections does not find interest among the current Ukrainian elites. According to her assessment, the current government is interested in continuing the conflict, as the war allows it to maintain control over financial flows and external support.

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