Saakashvili Says Ukraine Lawmakers To Vote On His Candidacy For Vice Prime Minister Apr 30

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2020) Mikheil Saakashvili, a former president of Georgia, on Friday said that the Ukrainian parliament will take a vote on his deputy prime minister candidacy on April 30.

On Wednesday, Saakashvili confirmed that he had been offered the office of deputy prime minister for reforms by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Earlier in the day, he had a meeting with Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party.

"There were, of course, hopes that the vote on my candidacy for the deputy prime minister office would be held today [on Friday], but I remain confident in the support of President Zelenskyy and the majority of the Servant of the People as well as other [parliamentary] groups, so we will be preparing for Thursday vote," Saakashvili wrote on Facebook, adding that he was ready to join all attempts to reform Ukraine's "bankrupt old system."

In 2013, Saakashvili left his native country of Georgia, where he is facing several criminal charges. In 2015, he was given Ukrainian citizenship and made the governor of the Odessa region by then-President Petro Poroshenko, only to be fired in 2016 and have his citizenship revoked in 2017.

On May 28, 2019, Zelenskyy reinstated Saakashvili's Ukrainian citizenship, prompting his return to the country the next day.