Early results show the Ukrainian president's party winning a majority of seats in Sunday's parliamentary election.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission said Monday that 34% of the ballots counted show President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's party, Servant of the People, getting 42.1% of the vote with its closest rival trailing behind with 13% of the vote.

In addition, results from single-mandate constituencies also show Zelenskiy's allies winning in at least 115 of the 199 districts, meaning that Servant of the People is projected to win an outright majority of seats at the Supreme Rada.

Out of the 424 seats at the Ukrainian parliament, 225 lawmakers are elected on party rolls and 199 in single-mandate districts. </s> KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Early results show the Ukrainian president's party winning a majority of seats in Sunday's parliamentary election.

Ukraine's Central Election Commission said Monday that 34% of the ballots counted show President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's party, Servant of the People, getting 42.1% of the vote with its closest rival trailing behind with 13% of the vote.

In addition, results from single-mandate constituencies also show Zelenskiy's allies winning in at least 115 of the 199 districts, meaning that Servant of the People is projected to win an outright majority of seats at the Supreme Rada.

Out of the 424 seats at the Ukrainian parliament, 225 lawmakers are elected on party rolls and 199 in single-mandate districts. </s> Party “servant of the people” President Vladimir Zelensky is leading in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada with separation from the nearest competitor by almost 30% of the vote. This is evidenced by the data on the CEC website.

At the end of counting of 35.5% of protocols, “servant of the people” gathered of 42.19%, second place in the “Opposition platform for life” Victor Medvedchuk from 12.75% in the third – party former President Poroshenko “European solidarity” from 8.71%. Also the five-percent barrier overcome the “Fatherland” from 8.15% and the party of the musician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk’s “the Voice” – 6,39%.

According to the calculations of “the Ukrainian truth”, after the seats in Parliament are distributed as follows: “the Servant of the people” – 228, “the Opposition platform – for Life” – 43 “European solidarity” – 27, “Batkivshchyna” – 26 and “the Voice” – 20. Given the victories in single-member districts, party Zelensky is likely to receive more than 50% of the seats in the Parliament of Ukraine.

Zelensky, thanked voters for the confidence in his political team. “It’s not just a lot of trust, it’s a big responsibility for me personally, for our team,” he said, adding that he wants to see the Prime Minister of the economist, which had not previously been involved in politics. His words are quoted by the BBC Russian service.

A priority Zelensky called the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and end the war, adding that his party would consider a coalition with the party of “the Voice” Svyatoslav Vakarchuk. The leader of the group “Okean Elzy” said that people voted “for change”. “From what we see, we can say that people voted for change. And we are ready to be part of these changes,” he said, calling that “the old policy, with its methods of the past.”

One of the future members of the “public Servants” David Arachnia told the BBC that the party does not know what odnomandatniki from “public Servants” will win the election, so “we will all need to get acquainted”. It is noted that in the party “very satisfied” with the outcome of the election, but don’t want to talk about the candidacy of the Prime Minister. This position may qualify several top members of the party Zelensky from its head Dmitry Razumkov up to security Council Secretary Alexander danyluk. They themselves say they are going to wait for the decision of the President and the coalition, while Razumkova also predicting an armchair of the head of the Verkhovna Rada.

Zelensky also promised that there would soon be appointed a new attorney General whose name do not begin with “Lu” and end on “Cinco”, obviously hinting at the current Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko, whom the President of Ukraine at the inauguration urged to resign.

The head of Committee of the Federation Council international Affairs Konstantin Kosachev said that Zelensky has managed to transform the Parliament from the opposition in a relatively loyal. According to him, Poroshenko’s team and the most extremist political forces in Ukraine finally be history. “If his artistic period can be compared with a political childhood, the period between victory in the presidential election and the current day was his adolescence. Now, in any case, the coming presidential youth to refer to destructive the Parliament will not succeed,” – said Kosachev.

The leader of “the Opposition platform” Yuriy Boiko thanked voters who “voted for peace, for that the country returned to normal life.” Another key member of the party Viktor Medvedchuk, a well-known Pro-Russian views and cronyism with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that after the elections, there is a “serious stage of the struggle,” and explained that against the party were “very dirty and cynical” campaign. “We are pleased, but not satisfied,” he added.

“The opposition platform” has declared that is ready to help party Zelensky “servant of the people”, but would not cooperate with Pro-European parties. “We will be happy to help those who will establish peace in the Donbass. If the party Zelensky “servant of the people” will strive for peace, we will render assistance, regardless of what our arrangements. All the rest, who will lead us into NATO, the IMF, and it is unclear where we operate will not” – said one of the heads of the party Vadim Rabinovich.

During the day members of all parties that are in Parliament, have stated that they will not enter into a coalition with the Pro-Russian party “the Opposition platform”, and even before the announcement of the results of the exit polls guests of staff was given a huge notebook, where I collected examples of “cinicnnati violations” opponents in the election.

It is noted that the turnout amounted to 49,84% and was lower than usual. According to the CEC, the highest turnout recorded in Chernihiv (41,69%) and Poltava (41,52%) regions. The lowest in the Chernivtsi region, where voted only 27,91% of the voters. One of the leaders of the party “European solidarity” Irina Gerashchenko said that the low turnout in these elections, “distorts the actual sympathy of the whole community.”

Police announced the 2105 registered statements and reports related to the elections. 504 – about illegal campaigning, 74 – bribery of voters, 67 – of obstructing the exercise of electoral rights, 46 different kinds of conflicts, 39 – photographing of ballots, 31 – damage of bulletins and 26 reports of mining, the Ministry of internal Affairs of Ukraine. </s> Ukraine’s comedian-turned-president is on course for full domination of the country’s political scene after results from Sunday’s parliamentary elections indicated his newly founded Servant of the People party would win a majority of seats.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political neophyte whose only previous experience was playing the president in a television sitcom also called Servant of the People, won presidential elections in April and called for early parliamentary elections soon after his inauguration.

With 70% of the votes counted on Monday, Servant of the People was projected to win 43% of the vote. Combined with a strong showing in single-mandate districts, Zelenskiy was on course to win an absolute majority in the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament. If confirmed, it would be the first time in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history that a single party commands an outright majority.

Four other parties were set to clear the 5% threshold required for getting into parliament through the party list seats. The pro-Russian businessman Viktor Medvedchuk, who visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow days before the election, came second in the vote with 13%, gaining the majority of his support from the Russian-speaking east of the country.

The party of former president Petro Poroshenko, who was trounced by Zelenskiy in the presidential elections, came third, while parties led by veteran politician Yulia Tymoshenko and the country’s best-known rock star, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, were also set to gain seats.

Prior to the vote there had been suggestions that Servant of the People could form a coalition with Vakarchuk’s Voice party, given that both parties ran on a platform of reforms and political changes. With an absolute majority, that will not be necessary.

Speaking on Sunday night at his campaign headquarters, Zelenskiy said his main priorities were “to end the war, return our prisoners and defeat the corruption that persists in Ukraine”. He said he wanted a “new face and a specialist in the economy” to become the next prime minister.

Zelenskiy’s popularity has come amid widespread disillusionment with politics in Ukraine, five years after the Maidan revolution brought a change of the political guard. Most Ukrainians were disappointed with Poroshenko’s tenure, believing he did not do enough to tackle entrenched corruption and the grip over politics of powerful oligarchs.

Poroshenko’s time in office was made more difficult by Russia’s backing for a separatist movement in east Ukraine. The separatist territories, funded and armed by Russia, are not under the control of Kyiv and the war has cost more than 13,000 lives.

Now, Zelenskiy will face the same challenges, and could see his popularity fall fast if he does not make progress. He has already faced questions about his closeness to controversial oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskiy, who returned to Ukraine from exile shortly after Zelenskiy’s victory.

In the east, occasional fighting continues, and four Ukrainian soldiers were killed by sniper fire and mine blasts over the weekend. Zelenskiy has used the language of compromise and dialogue, discarding Poroshenko’s more divisive nationalist rhetoric, but how much progress he can make will depend in part upon the will of the Kremlin. Zelenskiy held his first telephone conversation with Putin recently, but the two have yet to meet. </s> Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky won a victory against his rival Petro Poroshenko in the second round of the presidential elections, according to the exit polls.

THE OFFICIAL RESULTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY MAY 1

According to the National Exit Poll, Zelensky candidate of the Servant of the People Party secured 73.2% of the votes, whereas Poroshenko got 25.3%. The poll announced that the turnout was at 62%.

Following the announcement of the unofficial results, Zelensky thanked the Ukranians for their support. "We have done it together," he was quoted as saying by Ukrinform news agency.

Poroshenko who congratulated the new president-elect admitted that the results were clear. However, defeated Poroshenko also signaled that he will not retire from politics in a speech at his campaign headquarters.

After the first poll results on March 31, no candidate surpassed the 50-percent threshold, paving way for a second round in the presidential elections. </s> A comedian with no political experience won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday, exit polls showed, dealing a stunning rebuke to the country’s political establishment.

Volodymyr Zelensky, whose only previous political role was playing the president in a TV show, trounced incumbent Petro Poroshenko by taking 73 percent of the vote, according to exit polls conducted by several think tanks.

It was an extraordinary outcome to a campaign that started as a joke but struck a chord with voters frustrated by poverty, corruption and a five-year war in eastern Ukraine that has claimed some 13,000 lives.

The 41-year-old star of the TV series “Servant of the People” will now take the helm of a country of 45 million people beset by challenges and having run on the vaguest of political platforms.

“I will never let you down,” Zelensky told jubilant supporters at his Kiev campaign headquarters where he was showered with glittering confetti after the exit polls were released.

“While I am not formally president yet, as a citizen of Ukraine I can tell all post-Soviet countries: ‘Look at us! Everything is possible!’.”

Zelensky won in all regions of the country, defeating Poroshenko even in the west where he traditionally enjoyed strong support.

Poroshenko, 53, conceded defeat in a speech at his campaign headquarters and said the results were “clear” and enough reason to “call my opponent and congratulate him. I will leave office but I want to firmly stress — I will not quit politics,” Poroshenko said.

Preliminary results were expected in several hours but the same exit polls were accurate in the first round of the election.

After taking the most votes in last month’s first-round vote, Zelensky had enjoyed a strong lead going into Sunday’s poll.

From Ukrainian-speaking regions in the west of the country to Russian-speaking territories in the war-torn east, many voters said they feared uncertainty but yearned for change.

“We’re tired of all the lies,” said Marta Semenyuk, 26, who cast her ballot for the comedian.

“I think it just cannot get any worse and I hope he’ll live up to his promises,” said Larisa, an 18-year-old student from the government-held eastern port city of Mariupol.

Zelensky’s victory opens a new chapter in the history of a country that has gone through two popular uprisings in the last 20 years and is mired in a conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in the east.

His supporters say only a fresh face can clean up Ukraine’s politics and end the separatist conflict.

But others doubt the showman will be able to take on the country’s influential oligarchs, negotiate with the likes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and stand up to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

“People have gone mad,” Viktoriya Olomutska, a 39-year-old Poroshenko supporter, said in Kiev. “Cinema and reality are two different things.”

Poroshenko had previously mocked his rival’s lack of political experience and argued he was unfit to be a wartime commander-in-chief.

The outgoing leader came to power after a 2014 pro-Western uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime, triggering Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.

His supporters credited him with rebuilding the army and securing an Orthodox Church independent of Russia.

But many feel the country’s ruling elite have forgotten the promises of the revolution.

The comic shunned traditional campaign rallies and instead performed comedy gigs and used social media to appeal to voters.

The Ukrainian president has strong powers over defence, security and foreign policy but needs backing from parliament to push through reforms.

Poroshenko’s faction has the most seats in the current legislature and new parliamentary polls are due in October.

The West has closely watched the race amid concern a new government might undo years of economic reforms.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called both Zelensky and Poroshenko on the eve of the run-off vote. </s> Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comic with no political experience, announced the dissolution of parliament in his inaugural speech as the president of Ukraine on Monday.

By disbanding the chamber and calling early elections, the new head of state is hoping to win the support he needs to tackle a raft of challenges, including a struggling economy and the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

What happened during the ceremony:

Zelenskiy announced he would disband parliament and call snap polls.

He said his first task was to end the separatist conflict in the country's east near the border with Russia.

"I'm ready to do everything so that our heroes don't die there," he said. "I'm ready to lose my popularity and, if necessary, I'm ready to lose my post so that we have peace."

He added that dialogue with Russia could only happen after the return of Ukrainian territory and prisoners of war.

Zelenskiy called on lawmakers to adopt bills that would strip them of immunity and ban illegal enrichment.

He also asked them to support motions to fire the defense minister, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service and the Prosecutor General — all of them allies of former President Petro Poroshenko.

The president ended his speech by referring to his career in comedy: "Throughout all of my life, I tried to do everything to make Ukrainians laugh ... In the next five years I will do everything so that Ukrainians don't cry."

He broke with tradition and headed to the swearing-in ceremony on foot, high-fiving and taking selfies with supporters along the way.

Read more: Ukraine votes for fresh start with comedian

Ukraine's new president stops to take selfies with fans in the crowd

Who is Zelenskiy? Zelenskiy is best known for playing a fictional president on the popular television show "Servant of the People." Now he's also playing that role in real life, after a landslide victory against incumbent Petro Poroshenko in last month's runoff election. Some critics claimed his run was backed by controversial Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, whose channel broadcasts his shows. But Zelenskiy has denied having any political connection to the businessman.

Read more: Ukraine: Zelenskiy outshined Poroshenko on way to victory

What are his policies? During the campaign, Zelenskiy broadly sought to capitalize on voter disillusionment by framing himself as an alternative to the political establishment. He has so far provided few details about his policies, what he plans to do in office, or who he will appoint to key posts. However, he has said he wants to tackle corruption and keep Kyiv on the pro-Western course it has chartered under Poroshenko. He has also pledged to push Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow's occupation of Ukrainian territory.

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Challenges ahead: The young president is under pressure to rein in the wealthy oligarchs who wield significant influence in Ukraine, tackle widespread corruption and a stagnant economy. Many voters also expect him to stand up to Putin and end a draining five-year conflict against Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine's east. DW's correspondent in Kyiv, Nick Connolly, said there were "colossal expectations from ordinary Ukrainians" that Zelenskiy would be able to "change Ukraine and allow it, after 20-30 years of independence, to really make good on its potential."

Problems in parliament: Zelenskiy begins his term in office without a parliamentary majority, a fact that will make it difficult for him to pass reforms. His party currently has no seats. Dissolving parliament and calling snap elections ahead of the scheduled date in October could boost support in a chamber currently dominated by Poroshenko allies. Lawmakers have attempted to block these plans — last week, the governing coalition collapsed after a group of MPs from the People's Front pulled out.

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nm/rt (Reuters, AFP, dpa)

DW sends a daily selection of hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up here. </s> UKRAINE - Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky announced a snap parliamentary election during his swearing-in as Ukraine’s new president. The election was expected to take place in October 2019. But at the ceremony in Kiev Mr Zelensky said “I am dissolving the Verkhovna Rada (parliament)”. He said ending the conflict with Russian-backed rebels in the east would be his top priority.

A political novice, he campaigned strongly against official corruption.

“People must come to power who will serve the public,” he said on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would not congratulate Mr Zelensky on his inauguration, but would wait for “the first successes in settling the internal conflict in south-eastern Ukraine, and in normalising Russian-Ukrainian relations”. Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Ukraine’s new leader to implement the Minsk peace accord agreed in 2015, and also suggested an “all for all” prisoner swap between both sides.

Mr Zelensky a former television star, acted the part of Ukrainian president in a popular comedy series. He scored a landslide victory in last month’s presidential election. “We must become Icelanders in football, Israelis in defending our native land, Japanese in technology,” he said at the swearing-in.

He said Ukrainians must also “become Swiss in our ability to live happily with each other, despite any differences”.

“Our first task is to achieve a ceasefire in Donbas,” he said, referring to the eastern region controlled by Russian-backed rebels. In the election Mr Zelensky ousted incumbent Petro Poroshenko, who had been in power since 2014.

Mr Zelensky has given few details of his plans since winning by a landslide on 21 April. He has left it to a team of advisers to try and reassure people that he knows what he’s doing. Mr Zelensky made his inaugural address in Ukrainian but at one point, referring to the conflict in the east, he switched to Russian, saying: “I’m convinced that for this dialogue to start, we must see the return of all Ukrainian prisoners” - apparently a message to the Russian government.

Fighting in the east has claimed about 13,000 lives since Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014.

Zelensky starred in the long-running satirical drama Servant of the People in which his character accidentally becomes Ukraine’s president.

He plays a teacher who is elected after his expletive-laden rant about corruption goes viral on social media.

He ran under a political party with the same name as his show.

With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky’s campaign focused on his difference from the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas.

Despite this, he stormed to victory and won more than 70% of the vote. </s> Volodymyr Zelenskiy has managed to conquer Ukraine in barely seven months. The 41-year-old TV comedian announced he was making a presidential bid on New Year's Eve, and won the election in April with 73% of the vote.

Now, his party also looks likely to score a massive victory in Sunday's snap parliamentary election. The previously little-known Servant of the People party, named after a comedy series that featured Zelenskiy in the main role, is polling at between 41-52% in voter surveys — a record high. And only half the delegates to the Ukrainian parliament are elected from party lists. If direct mandates are also counted, Zelenskiy has good reason to hope for an absolute majority. Four other parties will also probably make it over the threshold of 5% needed to make it into parliament, but they are all lagging far behind.

In May, the new president dissolved parliament and brought forward by three months an election originally scheduled for the fall. His strategy seems to be working: The party is profiting from his high popularity ratings. Its formula is the same one he used for electoral success in April: Most of its members are young political newcomers without any connections with previous parties, which are extremely unpopular with many Ukrainians. One exception is the leader of the election campaign, Dmytro Razumkov, a 35-year political adviser who was once a member of former President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions.

Read more: Why Putin wants to make 'new Russians' out of Ukrainians

Zelenskiy's party is headed for a likely victory in Sunday's election

Radical plans

Sunday's election will be decisive for Zelenskiy: For his radical fresh start, the former comedian needs a broad majority. Zelenskiy wants to reform almost all sectors, press ahead with digitization and fight corruption. He has also hinted at a reckoning with the legacy left by former President Petro Poroshenko.

He has already fired several officials left over from Poroshenko's days in office, and proposed to extend a current ban preventing officials from the Yanukovych era from working in the public service to Poroshenko and his team. A draft bill to this end is already before the parliament. Legal prosecutions also seem possible, especially as the Servant of the People party would like to abolish the general immunity enjoyed by parliamentarians. A majority of the population is likely to welcome such a move.

Zelenskiy's party also wants to limit the influence oligarchs have on Ukrainian politics. But it's not clear whether this will also apply to Ihor Kolomoyskyi, with whom Zelenskiy was associated before his election, at least business-wise. Critics have accused Zelenskiy of being politically allied with the businessman as well, something both men deny. Yet the presidential office is headed by one of Kolomoyskyi's former lawyers, and one of the top candidates of the Servant of the People party is the managing director of Kolomoyskyi's TV station .

Read more: Investigative journalism is a dangerous job in Ukraine

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Return of the Yanukovych elites

The extent to which these plans can be implemented is something that is likely to depend on whether Zelenskiy's party governs alone or as part of a coalition. A possible partner would be the Opposition Platform–For Life party, which currently holds second place in surveys with 12-15% support. So far, little has been said on the subject of a coalition, but there are some key issues where the two parties overlap.

The Opposition Platform consists above all of former Yanukovych supporters. The party itself, which has its roots in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and southeast, supports a new rapprochement with Moscow and promises an end to the long-running war with the separatists in the coal-rich Donbass region.

Zelenskiy has set himself up as a president for peace, and aims to cater to the yearning many Ukrainians have for an end to the war. "We are prepared to do everything required by the Minsk agreements," Zelenskiy said earlier this month in a DW interview, referring to the international agreements aimed at bringing peace to Ukraine's east. He appears willing to make more concessions than his predecessor, and many are expecting a new approach to this key issue after the election.

Media and political support from Russia has been very noticeable in the runup to this election. The last time Moscow showed its hand so clearly in the Ukrainian political process was during the 2004 presidential poll, when the Kremlin backed Yanukovych. And this time, Yanukovych's former party colleagues, now organized within the Opposition Platform, are enjoying similar Russian support.

The Fatherland party of the former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has also displayed a willingness to form a coalition. Just a year ago, Tymoshenko was seen as an influential politician, but her popularity has since plummeted: surveys show only around 8-9% support.

War crimes in Ukraine? The war enters the cities Fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army has intensified around the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk. The situation for the local population keeps getting worse, the UN Human Rights Commission finds. It especially accuses the pro-Russian separatists of severe crimes.

War crimes in Ukraine? In mourning for father and son More than 1,100 people have been killed in the fighting since mid-April, according to the UN. Not just armed fighters, but also countless civilians, among them many children, have lost their lives. These people grieve for a father and his little son who died in artillery fire near Luhansk.

War crimes in Ukraine? Heavy weaponry in residential areas Civilians often get caught in the crossfire, according to the UN. Heavy weaponry is being employed in densely populated areas not just by the separatists, like here in Donetsk, but also by the Ukrainian army. The United Nations urge all sides to exercise better measures of precaution to protect civilians’ lives.

War crimes in Ukraine? Reign of terror by separatists The report accuses the pro-Russian separatists of abducting, torturing and executing people. The separatists are "rough and brutal" as well as "well-equipped and organized" and often under the command of Russian nationals, according to the UN Human Rights Commission. The UN body has 39 observers on the ground and has documented more than 800 cases of abductions by separatists since mid-April.

War crimes in Ukraine? Fleeing the East More than 100,000 people have had to leave their homes. Many live in emergency shelters, like here in Kharkiv, to escape the terror of the separatists and the fighting. There are also reports about Russian-speaking residents of eastern Ukraine who have fled to neighboring Russia.

War crimes in Ukraine? Shooting down MH17: a war crime On July 17, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crashed in eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on board were killed. The passenger jet was most probably shot down by pro-Russian separatists. That could be interpreted as a war crime, said UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay.

War crimes in Ukraine? Justice in The Hague? Those responsible could face charges before the International Criminal Court. The UN Human Rights Commissioner warns: anybody violating international law will be brought to justice. That also applies to foreign fighters involved in the conflict. Author: Peter Hille



Ex-president and rock singer in opposition

Poroshenko's party, European Solidarity, and the new party Golos (Voice, in English) led by rock singer Svyatoslav Vakarchuk are both likely to be in opposition in the new parliament. Both have targeted voters in western Ukraine, the only region where Zelenskiy does not enjoy a majority. While Poroshenko touts his party as a power opposed to a "pro-Russian revanchism," the 44-year-old Vakarchuk makes the impression of a moderate and tries to copy Zelenskiy's formula for success. Like the Servant of the People, Golos is also made up mostly of young, unknown politicians. The best way to change the country, Vakarchuk told DW, is "to stand for parliament and bring young people with me."

Experts in Kyiv see Sunday's parliamentary election as a chance for a fresh start and point to many new faces embodying the change of generations. But they have also warned about a U-turn toward Russia, despite all pro-Western rhetoric. Such a development would inevitably bring about new tensions.

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Servant of the People, President Zelensky’s party, wins most of the seats with a comfortable majority.