Show Notes
Ukraine's ousted defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has triggered a major political controversy by calling for presidential elections in a direct challenge to President Zelenskyy's leadership.
Accusing Zelenskyy's government of corruption, Fedorov has broken a major wartime political taboo by calling for elections to be held while Ukraine is at war, saying democracy cannot be 'held hostage by Russia'.
The term of Zelenskyy, who was elected back in 2019, technically ran out two years ago, but Ukraine's constitution currently postpones elections when the country is at war.
While some protestors back Fedorov's calls for a vote, many are concerned that they could be exploited by Russia, not least Zelenskyy himself, who said that they would split the country and cause a 'tsunami'.
Joining Enda Brady to discuss whether Ukraine should, or even can, have elections, are:
Olesia Horiainova Deputy Head of Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre
Mary Dejevsky Foreign Affairs Columnist at The Independent
Paul Ingram Director of the Global Stability Network
Follow the podcast to keep up to date and access the back catalogue of Roundtable discussions at https://www.youtube.com/@RoundtableTRTWorld Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Roundtable
The Israeli public go to the polls next week, for the first time since the war on Gaza began three years ago.
Spain’s housing crisis has pushed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a sudden snap election, after his government initially failed to get through emergency laws.
President Macron is holding crisis talks after violent protests swept the country, after weeks of student demonstrations.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called for closer cooperation with the European Union, saying "sticking with the status quo is not good enough for Britain".
In this special episode of Roundtable, Enda Brady speaks to Husam Zomlot, Palestine’s Ambassador to the UK.