Bohdan submitted resignation letter, news site reports

Andriy Bohdan, the head of the Presidential Office,
has submitted his resignation, the pravda.com.ua news site reported, citing a
source in the office responsible for media relations. The news site published a
copy of the letter, which has yet to be confirmed by Bohdan himself. Another
anonymous source in the office said the report is a prank by Bohdan. A petition
on the Presidential Office website demanding Bohdan’s resignation has drawn
25,000 signatures as of July 27, arguing he should not be serving according to
the law on lustration, which forbids the return of officials who served under
the Yanukovych administration.

The newly elected parliament won’t be able to assemble
by Sept. 1, Bohdan told a July 30 press briefing. He cited a large volume of
lawsuits interfering with the approval of the election results. Meanwhile, the
Cabinet of Ministers will likely be formed after the first or second session of
parliament, Andriy Gerus, the president’s representative to the Cabinet, told
the 1+1 television network on Aug. 1. “We don’t have a lot of time,” Gerus
said. “Ukraine needs quick changes so that society feels a positive effect from
reforms that need to be implemented rapidly. There will be new decisions
daily.”

Zenon Zawada: The only reason Bohdan could be resigning is that he could have become
too much of a distraction to President Zelensky’s agenda. He has become an easy
target for Zelensky’s opponents since he served as the anti-corruption
ombudsman between December 2010 and March 2014 during the Yanukovych
administration (notorious for its corruption). One prominent journalist said
Bohdan could be replaced by Ivan Bakanov, Zelensky’s close confidante and
business partner who is currently active head of the Security Service. But
Bakanov doesn’t have the experience and contacts that Bohdan has. If Bohdan
does resign, we expect him to remain Zelensky’s close adviser behind the
scenes, or be granted a less public state post.