Donetsk, Aug 22 – DAN. The news on Donbass leaders' and parliamentary elections postponement should be evaluated prudently, said Alexey Chesnakov, political scientist and director of the Center for Current Politics.
"Judging by the attitudes of the political leaders in Donetsk and Lugansk, whom I met in person to discuss this issue, the final decision on whether to carry out elections or not will be taken by them on the basis of a number of factors, first of all, the international environment, progress on the Minsk Agreements implementation, and, of course, the extension of the Donbass special status law by Ukraine," Chesnakov said quoted by TASS news agency.
"If the law is not timely and fully extended by the Verkhovnaya Rada and Ukrainian president, the Minsk Agreements shall be considered derailed by the fault of the Ukrainian side. In this case, I am sure, elections will take place in Donbass this year," he said.
Chesnakov said that currently local DPR and LPR politicians table various opinions concerning the elections. "All of them are important. One thing is certain: elections might become an unnecessary irritant for the peace settlement," according to the political scientist.
Earlier a number of DPR and LPR public figures came forward with the proposition to consider postponement of leaders' and parliamentary elections scheduled for this autumn, to enable current leaders to deliver on their programs of social and economic development. *ot