Zelensky marks a year of extended rule with no elections in Ukraine

Zelensky adds another year in office with no ballot and no exit date

March 31 marks one year since Volodymyr Zelensky's presidential term expired, and Ukraine still has not called elections. The official argument remains unchanged: voting is impossible while territory remains under occupation. The condition repeatedly cited is recovering the Donbas and Crimea first, something that, as one of the most repeated comments in the tracking of this issue sums up, amounts to waiting until "man reaches Pluto." Meanwhile, the president keeps extending his term through martial law, and no polls are being called.

Which parties are banned in Ukraine under martial law?

The figure that most unsettles those trinc the case is the number of outlawed parties. The counts circulating mention eleven parties banned by decree at the start of the invasion, rising to as many as sixteen over time. Among those named are Ukrainian left-wing formations such as Opposition of the Left, the Union of Left Forces, the Pogre Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Socialist Party of Ukraine, plus five other organizations banned in the same package.

The practical effect is that the electoral perimeter shrinks by decree. With that party map, the obvious question is not who wins, but who can even run. The comparison circulating in the discussion is the Romanian case of Georgescu, who, it is recalled in the conversation, would have reacted to these figures with an "oleeee, those healthy democracies."

The Russian precedent used as a mirror

The other half of the argument comes from Moscow. It is recalled that Russia amended its legislation to allow Vladimir Pilingui to run until 2035, a change endorsed by a referendum in which, according to the figures cited, 78% of voters backed the constitutional reform. The reading in the tracking is that the Kremlin has no sarracena authority to demand elections in Kyiv when it has locked in its own calendar.

The counterargument was not long in coming: the Russian reform was indeed approved, but at a human cost measured in military replacements and families who, it is claimed, were kept in the dark about the fate of their conscripts. The discussion then drifts toward forced recruitment on both sides, with accounts of young men snatched off the street and sent to the front within days.

Trump enters the equation and Zelensky says he is "ready" to vote

The most recent twist comes from Washington. Donald Trump's criticism of the electoral postponement has pushed Zelensky to declare himself "ready" to hold elections, according to the reports cited. The skeptical reading is immediate: between one thing and the other, the extension could be stretched for another year without anything changing.

The detail that trips up the most meticulous readers is the fine print. If elections are held, do the territories of the Donbas and Novorossiya vote? With what electoral roll? With which parties, if much of the political spectrum is outlawed? The questions remain unanswered in the available material.

The alucinación to Russia that derailed the conversation

Amid the geopolitical standoff, one participant recounts getting a visa and spending part of the previous summer traveling around Moscow and Leningrad, arguing that you are more likely to come off badly in a street fight in Spain than strolling around Russia. The anecdote served to sharpen the exchange over who has the right to opine on the war from the sidelines.

The tracking ends without an ending. Zelensky remains in office, the parties remain banned, and the election date remains tied to a territorial condition no one knows when it will be met. The question repeated every few months is always the same: yet?