President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party is expected to win a strong majority in parliament – the first time this has happened in Ukrainian history. Based on early results of the July 21 snap parliamentary election, the party of newcomers will win 247 seats – 58 percent of the Verkhovna Rada.
The party won big in the proportional vote, winning 122 seats out of 225 seats, but did even better in single-member districts, winning 125 out of 199 seats, according to preliminary Central Election Commission results.
As of noon on July 22, 52.7 percent of the votes have been counted.
Zelensky’s party might not have to create a coalition with any other party and may form a new government on its own.
This is not necessarily a healthy development, some are warming.
“There are potential risks arising from the absolute power of the president and parliament with a single-party coalition,” Olga Aivazovska, head of the Opora election watchdog, told the Kyiv Post.
Aivazovska argued it was hard to predict what Servant of the People will do as lawmakers because many of them are unknown to media and experts and have never held public office before.
Biggest-ever percentage
Zelensky’s party got the biggest-ever percentage according to party-list representation since Ukraine received its independence in 1991. Previously, the largest percentage – 34.37 percent – was achieved by ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions in 2007.
It is also the first time a single party will be given control of Ukraine’s parliament since 1991. Previously parties had to form coalitions to get control of the Rada.
According to party-list representation, the Servant of the People party got 42 percent, while the pro-Russian Opposition Platform-For Life is the runner-up with nearly 13 percent of the vote.
Ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity got nearly 9 percent, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna 8 percent and singer Sviatoslav Vakarchuk’s Voice received 6 percent, according to the preliminary results.
The projected numbers of seats for other parties are: 43 for the Opposition Platform-For Life, 27 for European Solidarity, 25 for Batkivshchyna, 20 for the Voice (Holos) party, and 59 others who are either independent or claim affiliation to another party.
Landslide in most regions
The Servant of the People party won in all regions, except for three, according to preliminary voting results for party-list representation. The pro-Russian Opposition Platform-For Life won in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and Voice scored a victory in Lviv Oblast.
The highest percentage for the Servant of the People is in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where Zelensky is from – 57.1 percent, and the lowest one is in Lviv Oblast, the stronghold of Poroshenko’s supporters – 20.46 percent.
The Servant of the People party won in all single-member districts in Kyiv, according to preliminary voting results.
The party also won in all single-member districts in Odesa Oblast except for one, according to preliminary voting results.
The only exception is District 143 in the western part of the oblast, where Anatoly Urbansky, a member of Odesa Oblast’s legislature from Poroshenko’s party, won with 56 percent. All candidates backed by Odesa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov lost.
Moreover, Zelensky’s party won in all single-member districts in Kharkiv Oblast except for two, according to preliminary voting results. Dmytro Shentsev from the pro-Russian Opposition Bloc won in District 176 with 45.8 percent, and Oleksandr Feldman, a former member of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, won in District 174. All candidates backed by Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes in the city of Kharkiv lost.
The Servant of the People also scored a victory in all single-member districts in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, except for one. Dmytro Shpenov, a former member of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, won with 36.8 percent in District 37 in Kryvy Rih, Zelensky’s hometown, preliminary data shows.
Candidates backed by the Servant of the People and Voice scored victories in two single-member districts of Lviv Oblast each, according to preliminary voting results. Candidates who either previously represented or currently represent Poroshenko’s party won in five single-member districts in the oblast.
Kyiv Post staff writer Bermet Talant contributed to this report
