Poroshenko opposes elections during martial law, supports creation of national unity government
Member of Parliament, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko has said that holding elections during martial law in Ukraine is impossible, but suggested holding them in the event of a temporary ceasefire.
"No. This is out of the question... Elections during martial law without suspending the law on martial law are impossible, illegitimate and will not be recognized by anyone. No matter what instructions someone gives to the parliament. But we can find a position on not a permanent, but at least a temporary ceasefire. For example, for six months," Poroshenko said in an interview with journalist Vitaly Portnikov on the Espresso TV channel.
At the same time, he warned against attempts to falsify the electoral process, because this could cause chaos in the country.
"Don't mess with this. Because it will be chaos. And Putin will take advantage of this chaos. It will be very irresponsible... Ukrainians are very responsible. I believe in them," Poroshenko said.
At the same time, he called for a reformatting of the government in the country and the creation of a new "government of national unity."
"When we talk about a unity government, Zelenskyy now has three options. The first option is to dismiss the government, to form a unity government on a competency basis. A rebooted government that has the support of much larger segments of the population than the narrow electoral base of the Servants of the People. Starting this is the right approach," Poroshenko said.
An alternative to creating such a government, according to him, could be the dismissal of all those involved in the corruption case in the energy sector with the participation of high-ranking officials.
"I want to emphasize once again that we are not eager for positions. We are ready to officially give up positions in the executive branch of government, to limit ourselves only to control functions, control parliamentary ones. But this will give us the opportunity to think three times before throwing out corrupt bills. Our competence will allow us to put the economy on a war footing. Without this, nothing will happen," Poroshenko said.