Zakharchenko gives Kiev an ultimatum on election law in the Donbas
Ukrainian authorities have until the 14th of July to adopt a law on local elections in the Donbas. This law must, however, be agreed to by representatives of the Donbas. If not, the date of the election process will be determined unilaterally. This was said by the head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, on the 21st of June.
“Ukraine has to adopt a law on elections, which will also satisfy us, before the 14th of July. This law must be agreed to by representatives of the Donbas. If such a law is not adopted, we will make the decision to hold local elections on our own,” Zakharchenko said.
He also did not rule out the possibility of the elections being held in the country in this year. “I doubt that Ukraine will adopt this law, or that we will be in agreement with it, by the due date,” Zakharchenko said.
It was previously reported that deputies of the Verkhovna Rada will unilaterally discuss the law on local elections in the Donbas on the 14th of July. This is also the date that the session of the Ukrainian parliament ends. This means that the deputies will be on leave until September.
Local elections in the Donbas were originally scheduled for the 18th of October in the so-called DPR and the 1st of November in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR). These elections are required as per the February 2015 Package of Measures agreement, which was adopted to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the region.
A meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk was held on the 6th of October. It consisted of representatives of the so-called DPR, the so-called LPR, Ukraine, the OSCE and the Russian Federation. It was here that the so-called DPR and the so-called LPR agreed to postpone the elections in order for Ukraine to implement its part of the political settlement. This involved granting the Donbas special status to protect parties involved in the conflict from prosecution and punishment. Ukraine would also have to adopt amendments to the constitution, which were agreed to by the self-proclaimed republics.
Zakharchenko had previously postponed the date of the elections. It was first supposed to be held in April 2016 and was then postponed to the 24th of July.