Ukraine insists on suspending the leaders of the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas from power before local elections take place in separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Kostiantyn Yeliseyev has said.
“It’s a matter of principle and we believe that all structures created in separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the period since 2014, including illegal, pseudo-legislative and executive structures, and also the heads of these pseudo-state formations should be dissolved even before the local elections,” Yeliseyev said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that “a myth is now being disseminated that it’s impossible to get rid of the fake administration because it will allegedly lead to a vacuum in the administration.”
“It’s not true. From a legal viewpoint, the only legitimate local self-government structures in the separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are local self-governance bodies elected in 2010. In accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution and the law on local self-governance, they ensure the exercise of their powers until the new elections,” Yeliseyev said.
Yeliseyev said the authorities that were legally elected in 2010 should resume their work and function to the full extent of their abilities.
