The Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the official results of the country's presidential election on Tuesday and named Volodymyr Zelenskiy the winner of the race
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2019) The Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the official results of the country's presidential election on Tuesday and named Volodymyr Zelenskiy the winner of the race.With a record result for the country, Zelenskiy beat the current head of state, Petro Poroshenko, in the second round.
Zelenskiy was supported by 73.22 percent of voters, and Poroshenko received 24.45 percent, the CEC announced after 100 percent of ballots were counted. At the same time, the voter turnout stood at some 62 percent.
International observers believe that the presidential race was generally competitive and democratic. The violations were minor and did not affect the final result of the vote.
The second round of presidential election was held in Ukraine on April 21. The first exit poll data showed that Zelenskiy won by a convincing margin. Poroshenko admitted his defeat shortly afterward.
Zelenskiy was congratulated by US President Donald Trump, leaders of European countries and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew. All of them expressed willingness to strengthen and expand cooperation with Kiev, as well as to help Ukraine in promoting reforms in key fields.
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill also congratulated Zelenskiy on his election and expressed hope that with his assumption of office the period of harassment and oppression of Ukraine's citizens who are members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will end.
On April 25, Zelenskiy said that the CEC was delaying the announcement of the election results in order to prevent the dissolution of the country's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The next parliamentary elections will be held in Ukraine in late October.
At the same time, the party of the current president, Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity" has the largest faction in the Rada, and Zelenskiy's Servant of the People party appeared in the political field of Ukraine just before the presidential election.
The CEC denied the charges and stated that the protocols were received ahead of schedule.
According to the constitution of Ukraine, the new president takes office from the moment of taking the oath to the Ukrainian people during a special meeting of the Verkhovna Rada. The president is being sworn in by the head of the Constitutional Court.
According to the country's legislation, the elected Ukrainian president should assume office no later than 30 days after the announcement of the official voting result and their publication in Rada's official newspaper, which means no later than June 3.
The exact date of inauguration is established by the parliament in a separate decree.
The Ukrainian media reported citing sources that the possibility of holding the inauguration on May 28 was under discussion. In addition, according to some media reports, Poroshenko's team is trying to delay Zelenskiy's accession to office as long as possible in order to deprive him of the right to dissolve the parliament and announce early parliamentary election. Under Ukrainian legislation, it is prohibited to dissolve the parliament less than six months before its term expires.
Zelenskiy, for his part, has not previously ruled out that he will initiate the parliament's dissolution after becoming the president.
"You understand that there are certain legislative deadlines ... I am afraid that I will not have enough time. I will not violate the law, I will not break the law. If we have time, six months before the next election, while we have the right to dissolve the parliament ... then we will think about it. But you understand that this [the dissolution of the parliament] is beneficial to us," Zelenskiy said.
At the same time, the head of the District Administrative Court of Kiev Pavel Vovk noted that the Ukrainian president had legal grounds for dissolving the Verkhovna Rada of the current convocation until June 14.
International observers, who worked in Ukraine during the election, hope that the transfer of power from Poroshenko to Zelenskiy will be peaceful.
Since the beginning of the election campaign, the police have received more than 11,000 reports of violations during the electoral process, 430 criminal cases have been initiated. Despite this, international observers were satisfied with the electoral process in Ukraine.
In their opinion, the election was free and competitive, and violations did not affect the voting results. However, observers from ENEMO International Election Observation Mission were unhappy with the candidates' election campaigns in the runoff.
"Negative campaigning and harsh rhetoric used by both candidates marked the media environment in the lead up to the second round. Lack of regulations concerning campaigning on social media allowed candidates to carry out direct or indirect campaigning beyond the legally prescribed timelines and during the 'day of silence.' Both candidates dominantly used social media platforms to outreach and mobilize voters," ENEMO's election expert Pierre Peytier said at a press conference.
He added that campaign platforms and political positions of candidates were not clearly voiced to voters, with candidates focusing on discrediting of one another instead.
International organizations also noted that Kiev had something to work on, and it was necessary to eliminate weaknesses before the parliamentary election.
According to observers from the National Democratic Institute, Kiev should work on the legal and regulatory framework to eliminate the abuse of power during the election, and also pay attention to the dominance of oligarchs in the media, the financing of election campaigns and the failure to ensure gender equality.
Observers also noted that there were not enough polling stations abroad, and there were long lines of those who wanted to vote in a number of countries as a result of that. Experts advised Kiev to take this into account and resolve this problem before the parliamentary election.
Experts noted that Ukrainians were first of all expecting Zelenskiy to fulfill his program promises: to change the system of power, combat corruption, and establish peace in Donbas.
In addition, Ukrainians have long demanded that the immunity of parliamentarians and judges be lifted. The new head of state is also expected to reduce utility tariffs, although this part is out of his jurisdiction.
"Sociology shows that voters will wait for the new president to reduce tariffs, lift the immunity of the president, lawmakers and judges, initiate anti-corruption investigations and negotiations with Russia during the first 100 days," Viktor Taran, political analyst and the chairman of the Centre for Political Studies and Analysis Eidos, said.
At the same time, in his opinion, no matter what decisions are made by the government or the Rada, the Ukrainian voter associates them directly with the president.
The voters also expect the newly elected head of state to strengthen economic stability in the country and to fight poverty. Businesspeople hope that the pressure from the security forces will be reduced, as well as the tax burden.
"Protection and extension of structural reforms that were carried out in previous years, including, but not limited to, the following: public procurement reform, to continue the automated VAT refund and deregulation, the reform of the State Fiscal Service, health care reform, decentralization and others," the European business Association said in a statement about the steps they expect from Zelenskiy.
The new president is also expected to promote the opening of the land market and the transparent privatization of large state-owned enterprises.
However, the director of the Ukrainian Institute for Analysis and Management of Policy, Ruslan Bortnik, believes that the expectations of Ukrainian society regarding the new head of state are excessive.
"I think that Zelenskiy today has more problems and challenges than opportunities. I think that people will be disappointed in Zelenskiy also. There are more chances that they will be even more disappointed in him than in Poroshenko," Bortnik told Sputnik.
The political analyst is confident that Zelenskiy should begin his work as the head of state with the formation of the presidential administration, ministers and key officials.
