Experts hopeful of Ukrainian parliament coalition after presidential party scores big

Source: Xinhua| 2019-07-22 11:29:55|Editor: Shi Yinglun
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KIEV, July 21 (Xinhua) -- With Ukraine's final national poll closed on Sunday, experts are reviewing the possibilities of a parliament coalition.

Five parties made it into the Ukrainian parliament with Servant of the People receiving the majority, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Sunday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party won over 42 percent of the votes, with party members leading in 99 single-mandate constituencies, the country's Central Election Commission said Monday.

And while it's still not the final results, the exit polls do shed light on the preliminary disposition of power in the new Ukrainian parliament and a possible coalition.

One-party government is an "almost impossible" scenario to form "even at the expense of the majority candidates" and Servant of the People party will be searching for a coalition, said Andrey Buzarov, expert with KievStratPro analytical group and member of the Public Council at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"In any case, this majority will not be stable and still, (thus) a coalition is needed," he said.

Buzarov proposed two options for a coalition: the first one is Holos and the second, Batkivshchyna, of which a much stronger coalition was foreseeable with the latter.

The expert expressed little confidence in a long-term coalition with Holos due to ideological differences with Servant of the People party.

Viktor Nebozhenko, director of the sociological service Ukrainian Barometer believed that the parties that make it into parliament might significantly polarize it.

"European Solidarity comes in from the west... and in the east, the Opposition Platform - For Life actively gathers electorates. These two forces will not form a majority, they will always start arguments in the parliament. These two groups that get into the Verkhovna Rada (national parliament) will create tension and problems for qualified and fast legislative reforms support," he said.

According to the poll data as of 8 p.m. (1700 GMT), Servant of the People received 44.2 percent, Opposition Platform - For Life garnered 11.4 percent, European Solidarity 8.8 percent, Batkivshchyna 7.4 percent and Holos 6.5 percent.

The other 17 parties which also took part in the snap elections failed to cross the five percent threshold to win seats in the parliament, according to the exit poll.

The parliamentary elections set for Sunday were originally scheduled for October 27 this year.

This was the last time that voting is taking place under a mixed majority-proportional system, with a record high scored in a parliamentary election for any party since Ukraine gained independence in 1991.

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