Ukrainians were yesterday voting in an early parliamentary election in which the new party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was set to take the largest share of votes.
Polls ahead of balloting showed Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party getting support from a little more th an half of those who intended to vote.
Zelenskiy, who took office in May, called the election three months ahead of its scheduled date because parliament was dominated by his opponents.
He is seeking a majority that would support his promised fight against Ukraine’s endemic corruption and for other reforms.
His Servant of the People party — named after the TV comedy in which he played a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president — was supported by 52 percent of the Ukrainians who intend to vote, according to a survey by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology.
A party led by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates, tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, was polling in second place with about 10 percent, followed by the European Solidarity party of former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, whom Zelenskiy defeated in a landslide in the country’s spring presidential election.
Zelenskiy’s party intends to continue a pro-Western course toward joining the EU and NATO, combining this with a package of economic reforms.
“The position of the Ukrainian people is movement in the direction of Europe and it will be wrong to reconsider,” party leader Dmytro Razumkov told reporters.
The party said it would focus on reviving anti-corruption reforms that stalled under Poroshenko.
Razumkov said this could be a watershed for Ukraine, bringing in a new political culture of lawmakers interested in reforms rather than using political power for money.
“There are new people who today have completely different basic values than the representatives of the old political elites,” Razumkov said.
In contrast, Medvedchuk said Ukraine’s proper course is to improve its relations with Russia, which plummeted after the latter’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists fighting government troops in a civil war that has killed more than 13,000 people.
“If we do not restore economic pragmatic relations with Russia ... then we have no chance to overcome the economic crisis, which continues and is being aggravated,” Medvedchuk told reporters.
He proposed that Ukraine grant autonomy to rebel areas in and offer amnesty to the separatists.
He said Ukraine could get a 25 percent discount on natural gas imports from Russia if it takes steps that satisfy the Kremlin.
As Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter, his statements likely reflect Kremlin thinking.
Medvedchuk and Putin met on Thursday in St Petersburg.
“We will work with any political force, including your political force, to restore relations between Russia and Ukraine,” Putin said.
Razumkov said Zelenskiy’s party is ready to negotiate with Russia on mechanisms for conflict resolution and seeks peace in the east, “but not at any cost.”
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS