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AFP
Kiev
Ukraine’s new President Volodymyr Zelensky called snap parliamentary polls in his inaugural speech on Monday and said his top priority is ending the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the country’s east.
The 41-year-old comedian was sworn in as Ukraine’s youngest post-Soviet president a month after scoring a landslide victory over Petro Poroshenko with a campaign capitalising on widespread public discontent with the political establishment.
Zelensky -- whose only previous political experience is appearing as president in a popular TV show -- announced he would dissolve parliament in order to call early elections, originally scheduled for October.
“People must come to power who will serve the public,” Zelensky said, after wrangling with hostile lawmakers whom he calls “petty crooks”.
Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman resigned in protest shortly afterwards, saying Zelensky had rejected his proposals and “chose another path.” The legal status of Zelensky’s move to dissolve parliament is uncertain but it is still likely to go ahead, political analysts said.
“There are no mechanisms or instruments to stop this decision,” said analyst Mykola Davydchuk.
Zelensky said in his speech in Kiev that “our first task is a ceasefire in the Donbass,” referring to the eastern separatist-controlled region, prompting a round of applause.
“We didn’t start this war but it is up to us to end it,” he said. “We are ready for dialogue,” he added, urging the handover of Ukrainian prisoners.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded that an exchange should include all prisoners from both sides, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Zelensky said that Ukraine’s “next challenge is the return of the lost territories,” referring to Moscow-annexed Crimea and the separatists’ self-proclaimed republics.
Switching to Russian in an emotive speech, he stressed that Ukraine must regain the trust of Russian-speaking people living there, who “are not strangers, they are ours, Ukrainians.”
Zelensky also called for the sacking of the head of the state security service, prosecutor-general and defence minister loyal to his predecessor, although this has to be approved by parliament.
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21/05/2019
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