Zelenskiy inaugurated as sixth president, declares new epoch in Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskiy was inaugurated in parliament this
morning as Ukraine’s sixth and youngest-ever president, presenting an inspiring
inauguration speech that called for a new epoch of norms and standards in
Ukrainian politics and society “to do the impossible”. To initiate this new
era, the 41-year-old called for parliament to approve legislation to remove the
immunity of MPs, to punish illicit enrichment and to amend the elections code
for open list voting. He declared parliament to be dismissed, which seemed to
indicate that he would sign the corresponding decree today. (See our assessment
of this declaration in the following text.)

Repeating his most notable, and perhaps only campaign
promise, Zelenskiy declared striving for a ceasefire in Donbas to be his top
priority. “For our heroes not to die anymore, I am ready for everything,” he
said. “I am not afraid to make difficult decisions. I am ready to lose my
popularity, my poll ratings and if need be, without wavering, I am ready to
lose my position only for peace. Not losing our territory. Never.” To begin
this dialogue, the return of all Ukrainian prisoners must be achieved, he said,
while the next step is the return of lost territory.

More of his plans were revealed recently, including
organizing a national census in 2020 after the 2010 census failed to be
conducted, said campaign ideologue Ruslan Stefanchuk on national television on
May 17. He also repeated Zelenskiy’s plans to conduct a state audit. “We don’t
even know not merely how many people at all, but how many people have legal
status,” Stefanchuk said. “Because if you look at any regional administration,
you will see that half of the people who are second-category disabled,
Chornobyl veterans, and so forth are people who never were there.”

Zenon Zawada: It would
have been disappointing if Zelenskiy’s speech didn’t offer drama or humor in
his speech. He met these expectations, perhaps being the first president to
mention Ukraine’s notoriously neglected roads in his inauguration address. As his
potential for success, he cited the successful leadership of a famous
entertainer, U.S President Ronald Reagan, reciting his quote, “Government is
not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” If Zelenskiy is
successful in achieving his top priority of an end to warfare, he will become
Ukraine’s most beloved public figure. Unfortunately, we don’t expect that will
happen during his first six months. On the other hand, the critical legislation
that he mentioned (removing immunity, illicit enrichment, new election code) is
all realistic to be approved, though Zelenskiy is likely to encounter
resistance.

Zelenskiy is expected to announce his Presidential
Administration head today. The top candidates are Alex Danylyuk, his top
spokesman who has a strong reputation in the West, and Andriy Bohdan, a fierce
lawyer with deep experience in both local and international politics. Just as
significant will be Zelenskiy’s eventual nominee for prosecutor general. For
the candidate to satisfy the public, they will have to have some Western
education or experience, have a proven record in prosecuting high-level crimes,
as well as have no ties to anyone in the political establishment.