KIEV, July 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections with a record share of the vote, according to partial results and media projections Monday.
The comedian-turned-president’s Servant of the People party had around 42 percent of the vote, well ahead of its nearest rival on just over 12 percent, with 44 percent of votes counted, the results showed.
Media projections showed this puts the party on track to pick up more than
half the parliament’s 450 seats.
Zelensky won a landslide victory in a presidential election in April and
his party’s showing at the weekend election is the best of any party in
Ukraine’s post-Soviet history.
Four other parties — including one openly supported by the Kremlin —
passed the five percent threshold to enter the assembly, the results showed.
Faced with a hostile parliament after his win, Zelensky quickly called
snap elections and vowed to bring in a new generation of politicians to lead
the country.
The result of those polls will bring a host of newcomers into parliament
and government.
They will face a long list of challenges in a country heavily dependent on
foreign aid and scarred by years of war with Russia-backed separatists.