Ukraine’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved a resolution affirming the legitimacy of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s stay in office, asserting the constitutionality of deferring the presidential election while the country is at war.
The 268 parliament members present on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve the resolution, while 12 other MPs were not present during the session.
The resolution was designed by the parliamentary leadership as a symbolic show of support for Zelenskyy, whose regular term in office ended in May.
Last week, US President Donald Trump had accused Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” since he has not held elections in recent years, echoing claims previously made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, under Ukrainian law, elections cannot be held as long as a state of martial law persists across the country. Martial law was declared following the Russian invasion in February 2022.
“The Verkhovna Rada once again recalls that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected in free, transparent, democratic elections. His mandate is not called into question by the Ukrainian people or the Verkhovna Rada,” the resolution read.
The document also referred to Article 108 of the Ukrainian constitution, according to which the incumbent head of state remains in power until the next elected president takes office.
Ukrainian Parliament unanimously votes to affirm President Zelensky’s legitimacy and the constitutionally mandated requirement that prevents elections during martial law.
268 YES
0 NO
12 NOT PRESENT pic.twitter.com/WHUMH3XLx7
— SPRAVDI — Stratcom Centre (@StratcomCentre) February 25, 2025
Trump had also claimed that the Ukrainian leader had only a 4 percent “approval rating” in polls, repeating reports from Russian media.
But according to a survey carried out this month by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Zelenskyy has a 57 percent approval rating.
Even if this is down from the 90 percent peak just after Russia’s invasion this is a sign that Zelenskyy is “maintaining his legitimacy”, the institute said.
Tuesday’s vote in the Ukrainian parliament was a reversal from a day earlier, during which the resolution received 218 votes, falling eight votes shy of the threshold 226 votes needed to pass.
Zelenskyy has so far been able to rely on shifting majorities in parliament to pass legislation, as enough members of parliament from his own party are not always present.
Without parliamentary support, international agreements such as a prospective peace treaty with Russia or a proposed raw materials agreement with the US cannot be ratified and come into force.
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