KIEV, May 20 — Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old comedian who took office as Ukraine’s president today, announced the dissolution of parliament in his inaugural speech in order to hold early elections.

“I dissolve the Verkhovna Rada of the eighth convocation,” the newly sworn-in president said during the ceremony in parliament in Kiev.

The next parliamentary polls had been scheduled for October.

Zelensky does not command majority support in the current parliament and has wrangled with hostile lawmakers whom he accused of deliberately delaying his inauguration and called “petty crooks.”

Ahead of his inauguration, Zelensky had already threatened to launch the highly complex process of dissolving parliament and calling new elections in order to benefit from his current popularity.

His team said in a statement on Friday that the country needs “a parliament that functions.” — AFP </s> Ukraine’s new president has ordered the dissolution of the nation’s parliament and called a snap election in two months.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedian who won 73% of the vote last month, announced his intention to disband parliament in his inauguration speech on Monday, saying that current MPs are focused on self-enrichment and lack public trust.

He quickly fulfilled the promise in Tuesday’s decree that set the parliamentary election for July 21.

The election to the Verkhovna Rada was originally scheduled for October 27, a situation that would have put Mr Zelenskiy in a position where he would face a parliament dominated by supporters of former president Petro Poroshenko and would be unable to pursue his agenda for months.

Mr Zelenskiy, who has become famous for playing the role of a Ukrainian president in a popular TV sitcom, is gambling that his popularity will allow his party to make a successful showing in the parliamentary vote.

“Zelenskiy is trying to act as quickly as possible, because he realises that voters’ excitement will cool down in half a year,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kiev-based independent think-tank Penta.

His foes in parliament sought to push back his inauguration past the May 27 deadline by which the parliament can be dissolved, but eventually had to submit to public pressure.

Mr Zelenskiy’s landslide victory reflected Ukrainians’ exasperation with the country’s economic woes and rampant official corruption and the nation’s political elite.

He has already asked several top ministers to step down, but he will likely have trouble getting their successors appointed by the current parliament.

In his inaugural speech, Mr Zelenskiy said that the main goal for the presidency is to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, where government troops have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for five years in a conflict that has left at least 13,000 dead. </s> Ukrainian television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been sworn in as president and immediately disbanded the Ukrainian parliament.

Disbanding the Supreme Rada was one of his campaign promises, for Zelenskiy had branded the body as a group of people only interested in self-enrichment.

Before he made the announcement, Zelenskiy asked the parliament to adopt a bill against illegal enrichment and support his motion to fire the country's defence minister, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service and the Prosecutor General.

All of them are allies of former President Petro Poroshenko, who lost the presidential election in a landslide to the comedian who had no previous political experience.

In a feisty speech after his inauguration, Zelenskiy told the Rada that his main goal for the presidency is to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, where government troops have been fighting Russia-backed separatists for five years. </s> COMEDIAN VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY has won a landslide victory in the second round of voting in Ukraine’s presidential election, exit polls show, defeating incumbent leader Petro Poroshenko.

Zelensky, a 41-year-old whose only previous political experience was playing the president on television, took 73 percent of the vote, according to exit polls conducted by several think tanks.

Poroshenko took 25 percent of the vote, losing to the television star across all regions of the country, including in the west where he traditionally enjoyed strong support. The remaining ballots were spoiled.

Zelensky plays a fictional president in the television series Servant of the People and is running as an anti-establishment figure in the elections.

Poroshenko, a billionaire famous for his chocolate-making business Roshen, has been in office since being elected in 2014.

In 2014, Ukraine saw renewed conflict after Russian troops moved in, annexing Crimea, and prompting new sanctions to be introduced by the EU.

It followed public unrest on the Crimean peninsula when president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted and fled to Russia. </s> President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is calling on the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to immediately adopt the Election Code of Ukraine, the law on termination of parliamentary immunity and reinstate criminal responsibility for unlawful enrichment.

He said this in his inauguration speech at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

He also called on the MPs to dismiss Chairperson of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Hrytsak; Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yurii Lutsenko; and Minister of Defense, Stepan Poltorak.

Zelenskyi said the Verkhovna Rada had two months to do that.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on Monday, May 20, Zelenskyi became the sixth President of Ukraine. </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.

Watch video 01:58 Share A president without experience Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3IlIl Ukraine: A president without experience

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.

Watch video 12:35 Share The Long Arm of the Kremlin Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3IgoT The Long Arm of the Kremlin

nm/rt (Reuters, AFP, dpa)

DW sends a daily selection of hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up here. </s> KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The Latest on Ukraine's politics (all times local):

Ukraine's new president has signed a decree dissolving the parliament and calling a snap election in two months.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced his intention to disband the legislature minutes after being sworn in Monday. His decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada and setting early elections for July 21 was posted on the presidential website Tuesday.

The current parliament is dominated by allies of former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and Zelenskiy hopes to ride the wave of his electoral success to get his supporters into parliament.

An adviser to the new Ukrainian president says that he will sign a decree formally dissolving the parliament and calling snap elections within days.

Andriy Bohdan, adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in televised remarks Tuesday that the president would send the decree in the coming days. He said he hopes that parliament would vote for changes to the electoral law before it is disbanded.

Moments after he was sworn into office, Zelenskiy dropped a bombshell when he said he is dissolving the parliament, dominated by allies of the former Ukrainian president. Zelenskiy sat down with political leaders Tuesday morning to discuss the dissolution.

Bohdan said the meeting with the lawmakers showed that they would be willing to adopt the electoral changes Zelenskiy has proposed. </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> By The Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Volodymyr Zelenskiy is sworn in as Ukrainian president, immediately disbands the Ukrainian parliament.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Volodymyr Zelenskiy is sworn in as Ukrainian president, immediately disbands the Ukrainian parliament.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
Former comedian and reality television actor Volodymyr Zelensky is sworn in as the 6th President of Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada. Zelensky announces the dissolution of parliament and calls a snap parliamentary election.