Ukraine's Speaker Stefanchuk explains why he does not hold presidential power, as Putin claimed

Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament), has responded to Russian leader Vladimir Putin who claimed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s term has come to an end and power in Ukraine should be transferred to the parliament and its head, saying that Zelenskyy will remain the President of Ukraine for as long as martial law is in place in this country.

Source: Stefanchuk on social media

Details: Stefanchuk was responding to Putin’s claim that in light of the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s five-year term has come to an end and Ukraine has failed to hold presidential elections, the power in Ukraine should be transferred to the parliament and its head, Ruslan Stefanchuk. Putin cited the distorted content of one of the articles of the Ukrainian Constitution as proof.

Quote from Stefanchuk: "It’s great that the Constitution of Ukraine is now read in russia [sic]. I would recommend that inquisitive readers refrain from selective reading of the text of our Constitution and pay attention to Art. 108.1: ‘The President of Ukraine shall exercise his powers until the newly elected President of Ukraine takes office.’ In democratic societies, this is called continuity of power. But this ‘continuity’ is different from what it is in russia [sic] (where it means ‘eternity’); it is ‘continuity’ in the regular, democratic and security sense.

That is why Volodymyr Zelenskyy is and will remain the President of Ukraine until the end of martial law. And all this is in line with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine." 

Details: Stefanchuk said that Putin’s narrative is predictable but nonsensical. He added that he was worried that "some ‘Ukrainian’ politicians, as if laying the groundwork, regurgitate – almost word for word – these narratives, including in the Ukrainian Parliament."

Quote from Stefanchuk: "And finally, to quote from our Taras [Shevchenko]: ‘Learn from others but do not shun your own!’

So it would be great if in addition to the Constitution of Ukraine people in russia [sic] would peruse their own ‘Constitution’. I’m not even talking about the elusive principles of democracy or human and civil rights for russia [sic]. Just the part that says that the russian federation [sic] takes measures to maintain and strengthen international peace and security, to ensure peaceful coexistence of states and peoples. To cut to the chase, this is Art. 79.1."

Background:

On 28 May, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that "the supreme power, the presidential powers, are transferred to the speaker of the parliament". Putin cited the Constitution of Ukraine to back up his claim, but has got its articles confused and has distorted their meaning.

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