Ukraine parliament schedules Zelenskiy's inauguration ceremony for May 20

Ukraine parliament schedules Zelenskiy's inauguration ceremony for May 20
Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be sworn in on May 20 that will him to dissolve parliament and hold snap elections / bne IntelliNews
By bne IntelliNews May 17, 2019

The inauguration of Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy will take place on May 20, according to a special draft resolution greenlighted by the nation's parliament on May 16, which in theory allows the new president to dissolve parliament before this October’s general election.

The motion followed numerous appeals of Zelenskiy to the outgoing President Petro Poroshenko, his loyal lawmakers and the parliament's speaker Andriy Parubiy to cease what he says are efforts to delay inauguration day, and organise the ceremony to be held on May 19. Originally the ceremony was slated to happen on June 3. The constitution forbids the dissolution of parliament six months prior to an election.

On May 4, Zelenskiy urged Parubiy, to schedule the presidential inauguration for May 19. He said that "certainty is extremely important both for the people of Ukraine and for foreign guests who have already expressed a desire to attend the celebration."

The statement followed Zelenskiy's accusations that the official announcement of the voting results had been delayed with the aim of preventing snap elections to the nation's parliament. "There is victory, but no powers. Someone hides a mace [a symbol of the presidential inauguration] from me," he said in a video message published on April 25.

The inauguration of the newly elected president of Ukraine should take place no later than June 3, according to the nation's legislation. That is later than the May 27 deadline that would allow the president elect to dissolve parliament early, which in turn would give Zelenskiy the chance to capitalise on his landslide victory in the presidential elections and win a large share of seats in the parliament with his new political party “Servant of the people.”

On the eve of the second round that took place on April 21, Zelenskiy said that he was mulling snap parliamentary elections after his victory. "We will think about that," Zelenskiy said. "You should understand that we [Zelenskiy's team] will benefit from that."

 

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