Ukraine’s new President Volodymyr Zelenskiy took the oath of office on Monday and immediately announced he was dissolving parliament and calling a snap election, aiming to win seats in a legislature still dominated by loyalists of his predecessor.
Zelenskiy, a comedian with no prior political experience, won the presidency by a landslide last month but his new party has no representation in parliament, making it expedient for him to call a snap poll while his popularity remains high.
Working with parliament will be crucial to his ability to meet the expectations of his voters and also pass reforms needed to keep foreign aid flowing.
Zelenskiy called on lawmakers to use the two months until the snap election to pass a law that would strip them of immunity from prosecution and another law that bans officials from illegally enriching themselves.
Experts note that Mr. Zelenskiy’s desire to dissolve the body and trigger fresh elections is understandable enough. But the logistics of doing so are more complicated than he suggested on Monday, and hostile parliamentarians are likely to put up a fight.
According to Ukrainian law, the president can dissolve parliament if and when there is no prospect of a working coalition. But a quirk of the law also allows a coalition 30 days to establish itself. The law also states that the president cannot break up the parliament in the six months prior to ordinary parliamentary elections that were scheduled for October.
Zelenskiy also said that one of his priorities was to achieve a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, where a five-year-old conflict with Russian-backed separatists has killed 13,000 people. He added that dialogue with Russia could only happen after the return of Ukrainian territory and prisoners of war.
