People’s Servant party announces priorities, program, top candidates

Canceling political immunity for MPs, confiscating the
property of those convicted of corruption, creating a mechanism for recalling
MPs, using referenda on key issues, and punishing state officials for illegal
enrichment are the priority issues for The People’s Servant, Party Head Dmytro
Razumkov said on June 9, as reported by the party’s press service. Among the
party’s plans are approving laws needed for the Ukraine-EU Association
Agreement, deepening cooperation with the EU and NATO and supporting President
Volodymyr Zelensky’s initiatives for resetting relations “with Ukraine’s
closest neighbors to the West,” referring to Poland. Other priorities include
“the harshest punishment for corruption and theft in the Armed Forces and
Defense Ministry, decentralizing and demonopolizing defense procurements, and
spending on defense no less than 5% of GDP,” the document said.

Razumkov also presented the party’s program, which
consists of 16 priority blocs, including (1) A Cleansed, Renewed and
Responsible Government, (2) Destroying the System of Corruption, (3) Security
and Defense, (4) Ukraine in the World, (5) A Just, Independent, and Accessible
Court, (6) Reforming Law Enforcement Bodies, (7) Economic Strategy, (8) The
Best Conditions for Business, (9) Reforming the Social Sphere, (10) An
Innovative Economy, (11) Energy and Rate-Setting, (12) Infrastructure, (13)
Environmental Defense, (14) Education and Science, (15) Accessible Health Care,
and (16) National Identity and Social Harmony.

The People’s Servant presented its Top 100 candidates
on its closed election list at its June 9 party congress. The Top Ten consisted
of Razumkov, campaign ideologue Ruslan Stefanchuk, lawyer Iryna Venediktova,
entrepreneur David Arakhamia (Braun), anti-corruption expert Halyna Yanchenko,
campaign digital manager Mykhaylo Fedorov, campaign manager Oleksandr
Korniyenko,  tax code expert Anastasiya Krasnosilska, 1+1 television
network general director Oleksandr Tkachenko, and Greco-Roman wrestling
champion Jean Beleniuk.

As for the party’s candidates for single-mandate
districts, 3,544 have submitted applications to compete, the liga.net news site
reported, citing the party. The People’s Servant will field about 199
candidates for these districts after conducting a filtering process, Razumkov
said on June 9. “When we began to deeply study the materials, we find out that
– in spite of the full openness of our party – candidates for districts have
tried to represent us without sharing our principles and our approaches,”
Razumkov said.

About 50.0% of the Ukrainian public is satisfied with
the activity of President Zelenskiy so far, according to a poll conducted by
the Rating Sociological Group between May 29 and June 3 of 2,000 respondents.
About 48.2% of those polled who intend to vote and have decided will cast their
ballot for Zelensky’s People Servant party, according to the same poll. In
another poll conducted between May 26 and June 7 involving 2,021 respondents,
48.5% of decided voters will cast their ballot for The People’s Servant,
according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

Zenon Zawada: Zelensky has made all the right moves so far as president, which is
evident by not only his popularity, but that of his party. It’s entirely
realistic that Zelensky and his party will form the parliamentary majority, and
the Cabinet of Ministers, based on the results of the July 21 early parliamentary
elections. With such high support, expectations will be equally high. And if
Zelenskiy and his party don’t fulfill them, they stand to repeat the fate of
previous Ukrainian leaders who were swept from power.