Zelensky requests dismissal of Kyiv Mayor Klitschko

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted a
letter to the Cabinet requesting the dismissal of Vitali Klitschko as head of
the Kyiv City Administration, the pravda.com.ua news site reported on July 24.
The request is a formality since the law requires the dismissal of all regional
administration heads after the election of a new president, the news site said,
citing an anonymous source in the Presidential Office. Klitschko’s replacement
is planned no earlier than the end of September, the source said. Recall,
Klitschko was elected as a mayor of Kyiv city in 2015. As tradition, the
elected Kyiv mayor is appointed as head of the Kyiv City Administration, a
separate position that has more authority.

Zelensky’s possible candidates to replace Zelensky are
Oleksandr Tkachenko, the general director of the 1+1 Media holding company, and
Andriy Kholodov, a Kyiv entrepreneur who has personal ties to Viktor
Medvedchuk, among the leaders of Ukraine’s pro-Putin forces, the pravda.com.ua
news site said, citing anonymous sources. Klitschko has spoken with Zelensky
several times to find a compromise to no success, the news site said. In order
to avoid his ouster, Klitschko has called for early local elections, which
polls show him winning. Dmytro Razumkov, the head of Zelensky’s People’s
Servant party, said on July 24 that local elections will be held as scheduled,
in 2020.

About 31.5% of Kyiv residents have a positive view of
Klitschko’s mayorship, according to a poll conducted in September 2018 by the
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology involving 800 respondents. Another
39% of Kyiv residents said the city is moving in the right direction. About 25.2%
of Kyiv residents have a negative view of Klitschko, and another 49.4% said the
city is moving in the wrong direction.

Zenon Zawada: Klitschko
had always kept himself at arm’s length from former President Petro Poroshenko,
severing any allegiance during this year’s parliamentary election campaign. But
this was too little to convince Zelensky of his potential loyalty. Nonetheless,
Klitschko understands that his political capital – bolstered by relatively
healthy poll ratings – is strong enough to resist this attempt to reduce his
authority and ultimately replace him.

It remains to be seen whether they will reach some
kind of compromise, or if they will choose to clash horns until the 2020 local
elections. If so, Klitshcko could become among Zelensky’s most formidable
enemies, given his relatively strong poll ratings, and his youthful,
progressive image. In our view, the candidates mentioned as Klitschko’s
possible replacements – Tkachenko and Kholodov – have no chance of defeating
Klitschko in mayoral elections next year.