Oleg Sinyutka has condemned Kiev\u2019s push to centralize power and its decision to postpone local elections<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian leadership is fostering \u201cauthoritarianism\u201d under Vladimir Zelensky by delaying local elections until the end of martial law, a senior opposition MP has said.
\nUkraine\u2019s parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution confirming that local authorities will continue without elections until the end of martial law, which has been in effect since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022.
\nSpeaking to EspressoTV, Oleg Sinyutka, a member of the European Solidarity faction led by former President Pyotr Poroshenko, condemned the postponement, stating that Kiev had deliberately overlooked potential alternatives.
\nHe noted that Kiev could have extended the powers of local councils, but instead chose to maintain military-civilian administrations. \u201cToday\u2019s government in Ukraine lives on the desire to establish authoritarianism,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Ukraine cancels local elections<\/p>\n
Sinyutka stressed that he \u201ccategorically supports\u201d extending the powers of local authorities, despite certain drawbacks. \u201cAre they ideal? Definitely not. Are there corrupt people among them? Unfortunately, definitely yes. But there is a dilemma: to establish a dictatorship in the country, or to give people in communities the opportunity to govern directly,\u201d he said.
\nThe lawmaker also warned that excessive central control could derail Ukraine\u2019s Western ambitions. \u201cIf we go down this road, we will see neither Europe, nor the European Union, nor NATO,\u201d he warned.
\nThe MP\u2019s comments come after Zelensky faced a barrage of criticism over his failed attempt to erode the independence of the country\u2019s two main anti-corruption agencies. The crackdown caused massive backlash both inside Ukraine and in the West, with critics accusing Zelensky of authoritarian tendencies.
\nThe Ukrainian leader also refused to leave his presidential post and hold an election last year, citing martial law. Russia has since declared Zelensky \u201cillegitimate,\u201d claiming that power in Ukraine has effectively shifted to the parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oleg Sinyutka has condemned Kiev\u2019s push to centralize power and its decision to postpone local elections The Ukrainian leadership is fostering \u201cauthoritarianism\u201d under Vladimir Zelensky by delaying local elections until…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t