Kiev: No elections can be conducted in Donbass in coming years

No elections can be conducted in the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the coming years, says Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine Oleksii Koshel.

“There are several reasons why there can be no elections in that region: war, armed people and, first of all, no list of voters. We can’t say who is living in the occupied territories today. Nor do we know how many displaced people will agree to go back home. This all will take more than a year,” Koshel says.

According to Koshel, the people who seek offices in Donbass but have broken Ukrainian laws must be screened. “They had no right to possess arms or to make statements against the Kiev authorities. They must be screened but this process may take years,” Koshel says, adding that the Kiev authorities must do their best to make elections in Donbass possible.

Earlier EADaily quoted Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko as saying that elections in Donbass may be held by the end of this year. The authorities of Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics are planning to hold the elections on July 24 2016.