26 November 2018, Monday, 18:17 151

Poroshenko Asks Rada To Approve Imposition Of Martial Law For 30 Days To Allow Campaigning For 2019 Presidential Elections

Editor: Tetiana Herasimova

Читать на русском Читати українською

Share:
Copied

President Petro Poroshenko has asked the parliament to approve imposition of martial law for 30 days to allow campaigning for the 2019 presidential elections.

Poroshenko announced this in a televised address, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The National Security and Defense Council recommended that I impose martial law for 60 days. I want to announce my decision to you – I will ask the parliament to impose martial law for 30 days to ensure that the martial law does not overlap with the start of the election campaign by one day… Now, there are no grounds for dirty political speculations and insinuations. Martial law will last thirty days and end in mid-December," he said.
According to the law “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law,” holding of presidential elections is prohibited under martial law.
According to the Constitution, regular presidential elections are to be held on the last Sunday of March during the incumbent president’s fifth term of office (that is, on March 31, 2019).
The law stipulates that the parliament is to schedule elections no later than 100 days before the voting day (according to the Ukrainian News agency’s estimates, elections should be scheduled before December 20, inclusive, when the martial law proposed by Poroshenko will still be in effect).
According to the law, election campaigning should begin 90 days before the voting day (according to the Ukrainian News Agency’s estimates, election campaigning should begin on December 31, when the martial law proposed by Poroshenko will end if it is not extended).
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, former presidents Leonid Kravchuk (1991-1994), Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005), and Viktor Yuschenko (2005-2010) have called on the parliament to amend the law "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" to abolish the law’s ban on holding presidential elections under martial law if the parliament decides to approve Poroshenko’s decree on imposition of martial law.