With parliamentary elections rapidly approaching on July 21, five parties stand the chance of overcoming the 5-percent entry threshold and making it into the Verkhovna Rada.
According to a public opinion poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on June 10, these parties are Servant of the People, Opposition Platform – For Life, European Solidarity, Batkivshchyna, and Voice.
Among respondents who have already chosen a party to support, 48.5 percent will vote for the Servant of the People party, which is connected to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The Russia-friendly Opposition Platform came in second place with 11.8 percent of the vote.
The European Solidarity party — called the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, its former name, in the poll — took 8.1 percent of the respondents’ votes, while the Batkivshchyna party of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko received 7.8-percent support. Finally, the newly formed Voice party of rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk took fifth place with 5.6-percent support.
According to Ukrainian electoral law, half of the Verkhovna Rada’s 450 lawmakers are elected through party lists, while the other half are elected in single-mandate districts. As a result, other parties could enter the parliament via the individual districts.
Poll respondents were also asked who they would like to see as Ukraine’s future prime minister. The top three choices were the Opposition Platform’s Yuriy Boyko, a stalwart of pro-Russia politics in Ukraine, with 12.9-percent support; Tymoshenko with 11.3 percent; and former Security Service Chief Ihor Smeshko, whose Strength and Honor party is not expected to pass the 5-percent threshold, with 8.1 percent.
Ukraine’s current prime minister, Volodymyr Hroysman, took fourth place with 7.7-percent support.
The poll was conducted among 2021 respondents representing all regions of Ukraine, except Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which are occupied by Russia.
