You're reading: Zelensky’s party picks their parliament speaker nominee

Dmytro Razumkov, head of the Servant of the People party of President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Aug. 3 that the party would nominate him for the speaker of parliament.

Razumkov told this to journalists in Truskavets mineral water resort city in 590 kilometers west from Kyiv after the newly elected party’s lawmakers met with Zelensky at the end of their week-long training which the party organized for them.

Razumkov also said that the party would nominate Ruslan Stefanchuk for the first deputy speaker.

There’s no doubt they will get their posts given that party received 254 seats in the 450-member parliament, where they need just 226 votes to pass the decision.

Political consultant Razumkov, 35, was a speaker of Zelensky’s presidential campaign in spring. Then he became the official head of Zelensky’s party and was No. 1 on the party list during the July 21 parliamentary elections.

Stefanchuk, 43, is a professor of law, who now serves as Zelensky’s official representative in parliament. He is being called the main ideologist of the Servant of the People party. He was elected to parliament as No. 2 on the party list.

Razumkov said the party also has candidates for the heads of the parliament committees, which review the bills before they are put up for voting. Most of the committees will likely be controlled by the Servant of the People.

But the question remains who will become the head of the Servant of the People’s faction.

Stefanchuk was one of three rumored candidates. Other two candidates were IT businessman David Arakhamiya, 40, who is No. 4 on the party list, and Oleksandr Korniyenko, 35, a motivation coach, who was elected as No. 7 on the party list.

The first session of the newly-elected parliament should take place in early September. Five parties won seats in the general vote.