{"text":[[{"start":7.2,"text":"Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has launched a sweeping political broadside against Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warning the president that rampant corruption is undermining the country’s ability to fight Russia and calling for extraordinary wartime elections."}],[{"start":23.607,"text":"In a nine-minute address posted on YouTube late on Tuesday, Fedorov accused Zelenskyy and his government of systemic failures and said Kyiv could not allow Moscow to determine when Ukrainians can go to the polls."}],[{"start":36.175,"text":"“We must not let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin decide when Ukrainians can choose their government,” Fedorov said. “Ukrainian democracy must not depend on the goodwill of the Kremlin.”"}],[{"start":46.588,"text":"The burst of wartime criticism is the most significant domestic political challenge to Zelenskyy since the war began in early 2022 and comes just weeks after Fedorov was dismissed from his post as defence minister in a government reshuffle that triggered protests in cities across Ukraine."}],[{"start":63.934,"text":"It also came on the eve of a parliamentary session when acting defence minister Yevhenii Khmara was set to be rubber-stamped by the president’s ruling party, according to several MPs who spoke to the FT about how they planned to vote."}],[{"start":77.52,"text":"Some lawmakers saw Fedorov’s statement as an attempt to stall the vote in a last-ditch effort to win back his job."}],[{"start":84.254,"text":"Zelenskyy’s office did not respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":87.6,"text":"Fedorov’s remarks are set to deepen a dispute over the control of Ukraine’s defence ministry and procurement process. Following his dismissal, Fedorov accused military leaders of obstructing his reforms, while Zelenskyy said relations between the defence minister and the army’s top commanders had broken down."}],[{"start":105.782,"text":"Fedorov, a former digital transformation minister credited with driving Ukraine’s drone and defence-technology push, had served only about six months at the defence ministry. He had been seen as one of Zelenskyy’s staunchest allies before his dismissal, having masterminded the viral 2019 campaign that brought the former comedian to power."}],[{"start":126.08,"text":"Fedorov’s removal has since developed into a wider political crisis for Zelenskyy, who has offered no reason for the move."}],[{"start":134.276,"text":"“People cannot endlessly live in a state where they do not understand why certain decisions are made,” Fedorov said, alluding to the opaque recent government reshuffle."}],[{"start":143.566,"text":"The 35-year-old has rejected numerous offers from the president to take other senior government positions, saying that only the presidency, defence ministry and military command have sufficient authority to shape the course of the war."}],[{"start":156.72,"text":"In his latest critique, Fedorov said Ukraine must confront the possibility that the war could last for years and establish a way for citizens to exercise their democratic rights despite the conflict."}],[{"start":169.209,"text":"“How should a state function if the war lasts for years?” he asked. “What if the war continues for another year? Two? Three?”"}],[{"start":177.287,"text":"Zelenskyy has long argued that elections cannot be held during a “hot phase” of the war — a position that Ukrainians overwhelmingly support."}],[{"start":186.48,"text":"Martial law, imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, has prevented national elections, leaving Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s parliament in place beyond their typical five-year terms."}],[{"start":198.72,"text":"Oleksandr Merezhko, an MP in Zelenskyy’s party and chair of parliament’s foreign policy committee, said the only winner of a wartime election in Kyiv would be Putin because he would use the “vulnerability of Ukraine during the election campaign to his favour”."}],[{"start":214.67,"text":"Another MP said a fierce election campaign would “bury the country” and suggested Fedorov was “in a hurry” to make his mark “because in a year people might forget him”."}],[{"start":223.827,"text":"Fedorov called for a “legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war”. This included guaranteeing voting rights for soldiers, millions of citizens living abroad and people in frontline areas, as well as ensuring the security and independence of the electoral process."}],[{"start":244.284,"text":"“Complexity does not mean impossibility,” Fedorov said."}],[{"start":249.36,"text":"Zelenskyy has on numerous occasions asked allies to lay the groundwork for elections, including in February. But he has backed away from setting a date for a poll."}],[{"start":257.801,"text":"Fedorov framed a national vote as part of why Ukraine is fighting."}],[{"start":261.668,"text":"“Democracy is not a peacetime luxury,” he said. “Democracy is part of what we are fighting for today.”"}],[{"start":265.84,"text":"Fedorov also attacked the way in which the Ukrainian state was being run, accusing Zelenskyy’s administration of rewarding loyalty over competence."}],[{"start":277.28,"text":"“It is particularly dangerous when society develops the feeling that the main criterion for an appointment is not professionalism . . . but personal loyalty to the system,” he said. “A modern state cannot function this way.”"}],[{"start":294.48,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1787132800_1181.mp3"}