Verkhovna Rada speaker Dmytro Razumkov has seemingly been the only top official daring to publicly disagree with President Volodymyr Zelensky and his governing party.
Razumkov, the former leader of Zelensky’s ruling Servant of the People party, has successfully distanced himself from the president.
He says he puts his job as speaker before party affiliation. Pro-government lawmakers accuse him of playing to oligarchs’ interests. On Sept. 30, Zelensky’s party began officially collecting votes for the speaker’s ouster.
The speaker was the only National Security and Defense Council member who didn’t support sanctions against the pro-Kremlin TV channels linked to oligarch lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk. He also abstained from supporting the Zelensky-led council’s decision to impose sanctions on Ukrainian citizens.
Now, after failing to support Zelensky’s anti-oligarch bill, the president’s 244-member faction is looking to get rid of the recalcitrant speaker.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Zelensky’s chief of staff, went even further, accusing the speaker of working for Ukrainian oligarchs. “The president will have to intervene,” he said.
Razumkov denied all accusations, adding that he’s not planning to resign.
The decision to oust Razumkov is proving to be difficult. The former loyalist Razumkov had found powerful backers, both in and outside the parliament, seeing in him the only real check on Zelensky’s hold over parliament.
Zelensky’s top opponent
In two years, Razumkov has switched from being one of Zelensky’s key aides to one of the top opponents.
In 2019, then-political consultant Razumkov joined Zelensky’s campaign as an advisor and key spokesperson. After Zelensky’s landslide victory in the 2019 presidential elections, the newly elected president was preparing for snap parliament elections.
Razumkov took charge of creating the new pro-Zelensky political project named Servant of the People after the president’s hit TV series.
Yet, Razumkov sought personal recognition, says political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko.
He was appointed speaker in August 2019 and soon became one of the most prominent politicians in the country. According to a September poll by sociological Rating Group, Razumkov is trusted by 29% of Ukrainians, second only to Zelensky. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is trusted by a mere 17%.
Such a showing was achieved by Razumkov’s ability to make connections across the aisle and publicly support only popular legislation distancing himself from what was unpopular.
In February, Razumkov supported sanctions against Medvedchuk, yet didn’t support sanctions against his ally Taras Kozak, a lawmaker from Medvedchuk’s Opposition Platform — For Life party.
Kozak was the official owner of three pro-Kremlin TV channels — NewsOne, 112 Channel and ZIK. Sanctions against him meant the closure of the pro-Kremlin network.
“For all media, there should be a uniform approach,” said Razumkov when defending his decision to abstain from voting on introducing sanctions against the pro-Kremlin propaganda channels.
By then, the relationship between Zelensky and Razumkov was already strained. Since then, Razumkov has regularly appeared on oligarch-controlled Ukrainian TV channels criticizing some of the government’s decisions.
The Speaker has been a frequent guest on Ukraina media holding owned by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov as well as the ICTV channel owned by oligarch Victor Pinchuk. He’s been receiving positive coverage on both networks, as well as the channel Nash owned by a vehement critic of the Zelensky administration Yevhen Muraev.
Razumkov had meetings with ex-Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who have been in opposition to Zelensky. Groysman has also been actively promoted on Akhmetov’s channels.
Yet, the final rift occurred when Razumkov didn’t support the anti-oligarch bill.
The draft law is set to legally define the word oligarch creating a special list of businesspersons holding monopolies in crucial sectors of the economy and having a pronounced influence over media and politics.
The initial draft entailed a substantial increase of the Security Council’s powers, led by Zelensky, receiving the final say in deciding who is an oligarch and who should be added to the list.
Razumkov actively criticized the law and publicly disagreed with Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov, who said that oligarch influence in parliament is “extremely high.” Razumkov invited Danilov to give concrete examples.
Despite his party’s opposition, Razumkov sent the anti-oligarch draft bill for consideration of the Venice Commission, a legal advisory board of the Council of Europe.
The law was passed on Sept. 23, when Razumkov was on sick leave, though some of his critics suspected that it was contrived to avoid being present.
“This was the point of no return for Razumkov,” Fesenko says
Removing Razumkov
On Sept. 20, Razumkov publicly alleged that some lawmakers are taking bribes. According to the speaker, he had “heard rumors” that deputies were being offered between $2,000 and $4,000 for supporting the sacking of certain officials.
Given his predicament, Razumkov’s statement didn’t come as a surprise.
“It’s obviously a self-defense strategy,” Fesenko says.
On Sept. 30 David Arakhamia, Servant of the People faction head, launched an official process of collecting votes for Razumkov’s ouster.
At this stage, it’s not certain there will be enough votes to support Razumkov’s replacement. But that could soon change.
On Oct. 1, the Servant of the People faction will hold a convention in Truskavets, a resort city of 30,000 people 590 kilometers west of Kyiv.
Most top government officials were invited, including Zelensky, while Razumkov was left out.
One of the key issues discussed will be what to do with the Speaker.
“(Servant of the People) lawmakers will be placed before a choice either to vote to oust Razumkov or to go against the president’s will,” Fesenko says. “I don’t think (lawmakers) will risk going against the president.”
Consolidation of power
It doesn’t seem that Razumkov will be prepared to leave without a fight. He has favorable media coverage and the support of all four opposition political parties up his sleeve.
“He’s trying to defend at least a modicum of parliamentary independence,” said Iryna Herashchenko, co-head of the 27-member European Solidarity faction that has been a staunch adversary of the party that brought Razumkov to the fore.
Yuriy Boyko, the leader of the 44-member pro-Kremlin Opposition Platform — For Life faction, and Yaroslav Zhelezniak, head of the fragmented 20-member Voice party, said they won’t support Razumkov’s ouster.
“He’s doing his job,” Zhelezniak said.
Meanwhile, in speaking about his political future Razumkov has begun a future election campaign. In the Sept. 30 interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Razumkov said he hopes Zelensky keeps his promise to not stand for reelection.
Asked whether he’s aiming to succeed Zelensky, Razumkov was more diplomatic.
“For certain, I’ll run for parliament,” Razumkov said.
Anatoly Oktysiuk, a political expert at the local think tank Democracy House notes that after the seemingly imminent replacement of Razumkov, there will be no checks on Zelensky’s powers.
“This is the final consolidation of power by Zelensky,” says Oktysiuk. “There’s absolutely no critics left.” No critics among those holding power, that is.
