Many Americans, bathed in the myth of Zelensky as Ukraine’s George Washington, would be surprised to know that unlike Washington, who rejected the monarch’s crown at the end of the American Revolution, and who on his own accord returned to his farm after two terms as president, is now entering his second year after his term was supposed to expire.
Zelensky was sworn in on May 20, 2019, for a five-year term that should have expired 12 months ago. He signed a 90-day martial order Feb. 24, 2022, after it was passed by the Rada, our parliament, with provisions for almost automatic renewals. After Zelensky’s term expired, the Rada is now voting to renew martial law every 90 days.
We have had war in Ukraine since 2014, but there was never martial law until Zelensky and his crew took a chance and got away with it. //
Americans are told Zelensky’s term was extended by the Ukrainian Constitution because the country was at war, but the record shows that martial law is a legislative action, renewed every quarter with Zelensky’s signature.
In addition to suspending elections, subsequent amendments to the martial order have put all media under the Kiev government’s control and the outlawing of nearly a dozen opposition parties, including the Opposition Platform-For Life Party, the second largest bloc in the Rada.
American presidents never suspended elections during war
The contrast with the American experience is instructive here. In the War of 1812, President James Madison saw the British burn the White House, among other humiliations, but he did not suspend elections, seize the printing presses or outlaw the Federalist Party.
Presidents Abraham Lincoln, fighting the Civil War; Woodrow Wilson, fighting World War I; and Franklin Roosevelt, fighting World War II, all curtailed civil rights and restricted the media.
Yet, the elections went forward, even with the government facilitating the ballots for millions of soldiers mobilized far away from home. //
The Ukrainian Civil War has brought death and destruction to my country, but for one man alone, it has brought glory and power.
Every day, Zelensky keeps the war going to preserve that glory and power, the suffering continues, and he mocks Washington as a fool for peacefully returning to Mount Vernon.
Sergii Nosenko was a 2019 candidate for Ukrainian president. He lives in the United States with his author wife Daria and their children to avoid the clampdown on President Volodymyr Zelensky's political critics. //
mdavt 3 minutes ago
And that election will be fraught with danger for Ukraine and Europe. Putin will be working hard to ensure that someone friendly to him gets elected. If that happens Ukraine will go right back to where it was headed before the Orange Revolution. Perhaps the near-inevitable removal of Donbass from the electorate will tilt things strongly to an independence-minded candidate, but I wouldn't count on it.
