Ukraine President's Party Poised To Win Parliament Vote

Kiev, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jul, 2019 ) :Ukrainians on Sunday go to the polls to elect a new parliament as comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelensky seeks to bring in political novices and consolidate his power.

Zelensky's newly-created party is expected to win the largest share of the votes in the elections that should usher in a new era in the ex-Soviet country dominated up to now by politicians who grew up in the USSR.

The leader's party Servant of the People -- named after a sitcom in which he played a president -- is predicted to get roughly half of the vote even though it barely existed before Zelensky won a landslide victory in an April presidential vote.

Zelensky's rise has been viewed as a rejection of Ukraine's political elite for failing to improve living standards, root out corruption and end the conflict with Russian-backed separatists that began in 2014 after a popular uprising ousted a pro-Moscow president.

The Ukrainian president must share power with parliament, which will nominate a prime minister and form a government.

Speaking in the run-up to the vote, Zelensky promised to put together a "technocratic government." "My goal is to make Ukraine one of the fastest growing and developing European economies," he said in a video address.

The Western-backed country of 45 million people has gone through two popular uprisings in two decades and is still mired in the conflict with eastern separatists that has claimed some 13,000 lives.

Servant of the People may fall short of a majority and may need to form a coalition.

The ballot is expected to dramatically transform the makeup of the legislature, with analysts predicting that between 50 and 70 percent of the next parliament will be first-time MPs.