RPT: ANALYSIS - Despite High Level Of Public Support, Zelenskyy Unlikely To Turn Ukrainian Crisis Around

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2019) Even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy now has more power in his hands after his party, Servant of the People, became a front-runner in the parliamentary vote in Ukraine, he is unlikely to succeed in overhauling the domestic and foreign policy of the crisis-torn country, experts told Sputnik.

According to results published by Ukraine's Central Election Commission on Tuesday, Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party maintains leadership in the parliamentary elections with 43.13 percent of the vote after 95.01 percent of ballots were counted. This means that the incumbent president's party may receive over 240 mandates and create a one-party majority even without a coalition partner.

Servant of the People is followed by the Opposition Platform � For Life party with 13.06 percent of the vote, All-Ukrainian Union Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, led by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, with 8.18 percent and former President Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity party with 8.12 percent. The Voice political party, led by Ukrainian musician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, came fifth with 5.84 percent. Ukraine's Central Election Commission has to announce the final results no later than August 5.

Ever since the presidential election in Ukraine, Zelenskyy, a former entertainer, has been criticized for being somewhat nebulous in formulating his domestic political priorities, while his lack of political experience is also a source of concern for many.

People have been concerned that the new Ukrainian president will not manage to effectively tackle a large scope of problems inherited from the Poroshenko administration, such as crisis in the Eastern Ukraine, economic setbacks, an astounding external debt and the society split over tensions with Russia and whether Kiev should aim for accession to the European Union and NATO. Zelenskyy, at the same time, said on Sunday that ending the war in eastern Ukraine, returning Ukrainian captives and fighting against corruption remained the key priorities for his government.

"But now with both executive and near total legislative power in his hands, and the large mandate of two elections won convincingly in quick secession, he [Zelenskyy] will have to rule and make those hard policy decisions and his super-majority will not last long. Eventually he will alienate the east or the west of the country. It is impossible to please everyone with the gaping east-west Ukrainian societal division. And he will not be able to work miracles. Ukrainians demand an improved economy and living standards, but the Ukrainian economy simply cannot succeed with the continued conflictual relations with Ukraine's largest neighbor and still biggest state trading partner, Russia," Mark Sleboda, an international relations and security analyst, told Sputnik.

Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, a member of France's National Rally party, has expressed similar concerns in his comments to Sputnik, noting that Zelenskyy's alleged ties to Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskyi spark concerns, even though both of them have denied the allegations.

"Unfortunately the new president will change nothing. It's a joke, the virtual world is now the really world only with the support of the oligarch who are playing in the real world. Democracy is only formal. The Western support of Ukraine is a farce! The real power is outside any control," Schaffhauser said, when asked if the new parliamentary elections would change Ukraine's state and foreign policy.

Sleboda is in agreement with the former member of the European Parliament that Zelenskyy's alleged links to Kolomoyskyi may tarnish his public image and popularity among the Ukrainian people.

"Certainly the lack of political experience could hurt both his Presidency and those elected to his party in the Rada, but on the other hand they could hardly do worse than the catastrophic regime of the last five years, and that was exactly the calculus of most Ukrainians who voted for him. Rumors about his political allegiance and subservience to the oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi are far more potentially dangerous to Ukrainian democracy and politics, if they prove to be true," the analyst noted.

WHO WILL BECOME A NEXT PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE?

So far, the Ukrainian president has been reluctant to disclose potential candidates for the post of a prime minister, instead only saying that the future head of the government should be a "guru of economy."

The Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper has reported, citing its sources, that there are currently several candidates, including Vladislav Rashkovan, the deputy director of Ukraine in the International Monetary Fund; Ukrainian oil and gas holding company Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev; Oleksandr Danyliuk, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council; and Naftogaz Executive Officer Yuriy Vitrenko.

"Zelenskyy has stated since the election that he wants a technocratic economist without political experience or loyalties to be his Prime Minister. This will satisfy his base who want a complete break from the corruption and cronyism of the previously existing political elite, but putting a political novice in charge of a government and legislature almost entirely composed of fellow political novices will have a price in chaos and incompetence despite his party's majority in the Rada," Sleboda noted.

Many expected Vakarchuk to become the new prime minister of Ukraine as his party was considered to be the most-likely coalition partner for Servant of the People. However, as Zelenskyy's party has managed to gain a majority of mandates on it own, Vakarchuk's appointment is probably out of the picture now, the analyst noted.