Parliamentary elections necessary, but can be held after peace achieved - Hetmantsev

The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, believes that parliamentary elections are necessary, but can be held after peace is achieved.

He said this in an interview with the Ukrainian News Agency.

"Parliamentary elections are undoubtedly desirable and necessary. And we all want parliamentary elections. At the same time, when we talk about parliamentary elections, we must understand that there are two unresolved issues for their holding. The first is the security and organizational and technical component, the second is the issue of legitimacy," the MP said.

At the same time, he emphasized that both parliamentary and presidential elections should be held in such a way that no one, and primarily people, have any doubts that something was done or not done in such a way that it affected the result.

"But taking into account all the factors and the current situation, we understand that this can be done only after peace is achieved. That is, as I see it, first the most acceptable conditions for peace must be achieved, and they must be approved by referendum. Because issues of this kind should be decided by people, not politicians. And after the referendum and the conclusion of a peace agreement, presidential, parliamentary, and even local elections should be held as soon as possible in a peaceful country," Hetmantsev emphasized.

He also added that he had no recipe for how to resolve the crisis in the Verkhovna Rada.

"Today we have to turn to our colleagues in parliament, who have already started the pre-election process. And through various methods of public explanation, and perhaps public pressure, explain that today is the time of statesmen, and this time is unlikely to create conditions for high ratings. Decisions need to be made that are unpopular, difficult, and those that will later be criticized. But this must be done for the future of the country and for it to exist as a whole. Because the situation is so serious that we can reach the point where there will be nowhere to hold elections. And the analogies with the UNR of 1918 today are simply blatant!" Hetmantsev concluded.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the aggressor country of Russia agrees to stop strikes on Ukraine to hold elections, but only for one day. This is an absurd position, since Kyiv needs at least 60 days to prepare and hold the election process.