On Tuesday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on early termination of the powers of the Verkhovna Rada and set a date for early parliamentary elections.
The voting is scheduled for July 21, 2019.
All the factions are about to take part in the snap elections, Deutsche Welle reports with reference to Andrey Bohdan, an presidential adviser on legal affairs.
According to Zelensky, such a move came amid the citizens’ low trust to the parliament (4%). The fact that the ruling coalition has not have enough seats in 2016 has provided the legal basis for dissolving the parliament, he added.
At Monday’s swearing-in ceremony, Volodymyr Zelensky announced the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada and stressed the need for early parliamentary elections. He urged the parliament to abolish the deputies’ immunity and dismiss the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, the prosecutor general, and the defense minister within two months.
The 2019 Ukrainian presidential election was held on 31 March and 21 April in a two-round system. Zelensky, who had previously had no political experience, won a landslide victory, gaining over 70% of the vote.
‘President is a servant of the people,’ Zelensky, who plays the role of president in the eponymous TV series, repeatedly said in the course of his election campaign. His plans are serious: an uncompromising fight against corruption, numerous benefits for business and no privileges for the president, deputies and judges — their immunity will be lifted. The ideological basis of the program is democracy and the full accountability of the authorities.
President’s authority is not untethered in Ukraine; its parliament has greater powers. However, the head of state has a strong impact on foreign policy, the National Bank and armed forces.
