WASHINGTON — Western commentators congratulated Ukraine on holding parliamentary elections that were mostly judged free and fair and they, like probably many voters in the country, are waiting to see if the sweeping changes in the Verkhovna Rada would be matched by the reforms promised by the new powers.
Volodymyr Zelensky, a television comedian with no previous political experience, won the presidency on April 21 with a whopping 73 percent of the vote. He campaigned on a promise to fight rampant official corruption, repair a spluttering economy and end the war against Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.
His Servant of the People political party, built from scratch in just a few months, also performed very strongly in the July 21 parliamentary elections and is set to dominate the legislature with 254 out of 424 seats, avoiding the need for a compromise coalition with any of the other four parties elected.
The United States said that it welcomed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s preliminary conclusion that the elections took place with overall respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said: “We congratulate the Ukrainian people on this weekend’s peaceful and historic parliamentary elections, which delivered a clear result and underscored Ukrainians’ commitment to democratic ideals. We will work with the new Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people as they advance reforms critical to ensuring Ukraine’s success.”
U.S. officials had assured Kyiv before the elections that Washington, Ukraine’s most important backer on the world stage, would stick by the country.
Ortagus said: “The United States maintains its unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. We continue to stand with the people of Ukraine as they build a strong, successful, democratic country, secure within its internationally recognized borders.”
John Herbst is director of the Eurasia Center at Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, which has focused much attention on Ukraine since 2014.
He called the Servant of the People party’s triumph “a truly stunning victory which should make it possible for Zelensky to put together a government quickly. It also makes it possible for him to choose a technocratic prime minister who would focus on reform without worry about his or her subsequent career.”
He said Zelensky “made excellent choices” by naming Aivaras Abromavicius as the head of Ukroboronprom, the state military defense conglomerate, and Max Nefyodov as the head of the Customs Service and noted the choice of prime minister will be even more important.
Herbst said that although pro-Moscow party For Life came in second its12.5 percent share of the vote “is not very impressive” and represents “another important indicator of the Kremlin’s fading influence in east and south Ukraine.”
Adrian Karatnycky, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, noted that most of the legislators in Zelensky’s party have little or no political experience and have not actively participated in civic life.
Karatnycky said: “Zelensky holds all the cards and can mold a government of his choice. The president’s early signals are positive. He seeks to build a government of competent experts headed by an economist. Such a government can serve Ukraine well, but it will face the challenge of a vocal parliamentary opposition, including a large Russian fifth column.”
Andreas Umland, a senior fellow,at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation (IEAC), speaking from Kyiv on July 23 at an event organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said that it was essential that salaries for members of parliament be increased to levels that could deter the temptation by legislators to take bribes.
The Kyiv-based IEAC advocates Ukraine’s membership of NATO and the European Union. Umland said this was a dangerous time for Ukraine as the Kremlin would want to see a benefit for their “investment” of money and Russian lives in the five-year conflict.
He said that would most likely involve demanding “a little bit of Ukrainian territory and a little bit of Ukraine’s sovereignty.” Umland said that many Ukrainians would be outraged if their leaders looked like they were submitting to Moscow’s demands and warned that could lead to “a real civil war.”
The largest Ukrainian diaspora organization in the U.S., the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), said 32 of its members were among the registered international election observers monitoring the voting, which were rated good to very good 93 percent of the time.
An UCCA statement said: “Ukraine’s electorate has proven that they take their democratic civic duty seriously.”
The organization said it wished “the newly elected parliament the fortitude to put the interests of its citizens first and pass key reforms to secure its territorial integrity, strengthen democracy, fight imbedded corruption and bring Ukraine closer to the EuroAtlantic community.”
Kateryna Smagliy, a senior associate at the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, called the result of the election “stunning” and said newcomers without political or civic experience will now comprise three-fourths of parliament.
Smagliy said that Zelensky “must prove that eradicating patron-clientelism and political nepotism was not just a campaign promise.” She points out the danger that Zelensky may be accused of cronyism himself because, with minimal previous contact with tried politicians, he has had to draw on trusted friends and long-term business associates to man his administration.
She said that with 254 Rada seats, 124 from party lists and 130 in single-mandate constituencies, Zelensky has secured the majority needed for radical economic and anti-corruption reforms, without the need for coalition partners.
Smagliy warns: “One-party rule could become his blessing or his curse: all finger-pointing for lack of reform will now be directed toward the president and his allies, not political predecessors.”
