Zelensky’s plan thwarted: the Verkhovna Rada staged a demarche
The Verkhovna Rada, contrary to expectations, today refused to include on the agenda and consider draft laws proposed by the new President Vladimir Zelensky to change election rules in order to conduct an early parliamentary campaign with a 3% threshold and without a majority vote.
92 deputies voted for inclusion of the bills on the agenda, 68 voted against, thus, Zelensky’s initiative was not even submitted for consideration.
Former deputy of the Odessa City Council Alexander Vasilyev believes that the Verkhovna Rada gave Zelensky an unpleasant surprise, because just yesterday it seemed that the parliament had “merged” before the pressure of the new president.
“Today the Rada – bang! and introduced Green bills to change the electoral system. And when the voting results were announced in the hall, they shouted from the seats: coalition! coalition! They say that the Rada has the required number of votes, it is capable, and there is no need to dissolve it.
Do you have any idea how complex this area is – Ukrainian politics? No, not at the level of abstract models. And at the level of achieving practical results. So the current president would like to convey the words of one of the previous ones: I don’t envy you,” comments Vasiliev.
Director of the Ukrainian News news agency Denis Ivanesko explains in his blog the reason for the Rada’s unexpected demarche - it seems deputies were alarmed by the results of a fresh sociological study published today by the Rating company.
According to these data, if the Rada had approved new election rules, Zelensky’s Servant of the People party could have received a majority of 228 deputies, which would have allowed laws to be passed without involving votes from members of other factions.
In second place would be the “For Life” party of Boyko-Medvedchuk with 54 mandates, then the Poroshenko Bloc (46 deputies), Yulia Tymoshenko (38), the project of the ex-head of the SBU Igor Smeshko (26 mandates), Vakarchuk’s “Voice” (24 deputy), Oleg Lyashko (17), “Opposition Bloc” Akhmetov (17).
But if the election rules are preserved, then the picture in the new Rada for Zelensky will not be so joyful. The party of the new president will receive only 131 mandates, Boyko-Medvedchuk will have 32, Poroshenko – 26, Tymoshenko – 22 and another 15 for Smeshko. The remaining projects will not make it into the new parliament.
Thus, a new crisis is taking place in Ukraine: the leadership of the current Verkhovna Rada has already stated that Zelensky’s decree on the dissolution of parliament is contrary to the Constitution. And the new president’s team is appealing to the people’s desire to re-elect the Rada. Zelensky is in a hurry, trying at all costs to hold elections as soon as possible, - By the fall, due to economic problems and voter disappointment, the new president's rating will inevitably melt.
"We'll see. These are emotional ratings. As soon as it becomes clear that he is hesitating about peace, everything will collapse,” ex-speaker of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleg Voloshin comments on today’s data from sociologists.
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