Rx Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy took office as the President of Ukraine on May 20, 2019. He has remained in office since then.

During this period, every major country has changed leadership or reelected its leader.

Elections have been suspended in Ukraine since 2022 Russian invasion. Under Article 108 of the Ukrainian Constitution, the sitting President exercises powers until the newly elected President assumes office. An expired five-year term is not listed as a ground for automatic termination.

President Zelenskyy insists that he needs to remain in power. As reported by the New York Times, he said: "Elections right now would be a tsunami for the state that would split Ukraine apart." Without a cease-fire, which Russia would not agree to, holding elections carried "major risks."

World leaders have readily embraced this justification. Even questioning the above rationale is considered undemocratic and a pro-Russia talking point. President Putin has repeatedly said that one goal of his invasion was to demilitarize and denazify the regime, arguing that pro-Western forces, including the CIA, helped overthrow a legitimate Kyiv government in 2014 after the Maidan revolution.

Putin has also questioned Zelenskyy's legitimacy as the leader who could potentially sign a cease-fire agreement. He has repeatedly argued it is "senseless" to sign documents with an "illegitimate" Ukrainian leadership, saying any such agreements would lack legal force or could later be discarded. Each time Putin makes this argument, the West digs in deeper, strengthening Zelenskyy's hand.

But recently, Zelenskyy faced a rare dissenting voice from one of his own officials.

His former defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, whom Zelenskyy fired in July, called for wartime elections last week. Thus far, no other Western leader has joined Fedorov's call, fearing public backlash.

Democracies, especially those with parliamentary systems, routinely reshuffle cabinets. Ukraine's is a presidential form of government. Still, the underlying policy reasons should have fuelled a vibrant debate over whether Zelenskyy's position still deserves unquestioned international support.

A new leader could signal positive change, given that many of Zelenskyy's top brass have been removed from office on corruption charges. Ukraine's policy positions on when and under what conditions to end the war also matter. A different leader may take a more conciliatory approach to negotiations, saving blood and treasure. There's also the question of geopolitical momentum, which in Zelenskyy's case has been stuck with the same points of view for over four years.

It is entirely possible that Zelenskyy could be reelected, and if this happens, the talk about new leadership will fade. A reelected Zelenskyy could be newly empowered to either step up Ukrainian attacks on Russia and/or simultaneously negotiate a more favorable peace deal.

The question is not whether the world is pro- or anti-Zelenskyy. The question is whether the world can see and gauge what average Ukrainians feel about the war and what people in the thick of it want the country's leaders to do next.

Zelenskyy is already nearly halfway through his second term, and he was not elected to it. A wartime election could well be the medicine that Ukraine sorely needs.