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Ukraine president sets parliamentary election for Oct. 26

Ukraine president sets parliamentary election for Oct. 26

26 August 2014

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree on Aug. 25 dismissing parliament and setting early parliamentary elections for Oct. 26. For a month, parliament didn’t form a coalition, thus giving the president the legal pretext for its dismissal. “Can a war be won when the deputies barely scraped together 232 votes (out of a simple 226-vote majority) to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as terrorist organizations?,” tweeted Svyatoslav Tsegolko, the president’s press secretary.

 

The current parliament has served as a support base for ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Tsegolko wrote. The majority of them approved the Jan. 16 dictatorship laws, which led to the deaths in the EuroMaidan protest, he said, adding that they should be criminally prosecuted. Despite the Rada’s dismissal (which means its MPs are working until the new set is elected), the Presidential Administration expects the current parliament will ratify the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement in September.

 

Zenon Zawada: The early parliamentary election will sweep out most of the pro-Russian forces, we expect, giving Poroshenko a firm, pro-EU majority that will be in line with his agenda. Poroshenko can also expect a small pro-EU opposition of progressive reformers – voicing dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reforms – and a small pro-Russian faction. So we believe the early election will not only benefit Poroshenko, but the Ukrainian state as a whole since it will lead to political stability.

 

With this expectation, it has been said that Poroshenko signed the decree to gain added leverage to his position in today’s summit in Minsk. Yet that’s not necessarily the case. We are not so confident that the parliament will muster the needed 300 votes to ratify the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, given that many pro-Russian MPs will have no incentive to do so and will likely use their mandates to gain favor with Moscow, given that their prospects for re-election are dim. At the same time, the president could help them reach the realization that if they don’t approve the Association Agreement, the new parliament most certainly will.

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