KIEV, July 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ukrainians gave their comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelensky a mandate to reboot the country’s politics on Sunday by handing his party a record score in parliamentary elections, exit polls showed.
Zelensky’s Servant of the People party — named after the sitcom he starred in before his shock presidential win in April — took 43.9 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, according to combined figures from three pollsters.
It was the highest score in a parliamentary election for any party since Ukraine gained its independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
The pro-Moscow Opposition Platform-For Life came second with 11.5 percent, the polls said.
The exit polls only showed results for the half of seats assigned by party lists. The rest, in which members are directly elected in their districts, will be crucial in determining how Zelensky will try to form a government.
Full, official results will be announced Monday.
Zelensky is expected to look first for a coalition partner in
Golos (Voice) party of rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the 44-year-old lead vocalist of one of Ukraine’s most successful rock bands, Okean Elzy.
Both Zelensky and Vakarchuk packed their parties with young people new to politics and banned candidates who had previously served as lawmakers.
More than 20 parties fielded candidates.
The strong score for the Opposition Platform-For Life was expected as opinion polls had consistently shown the party in second place.
More than 13,000 people have been killed since the conflict with Moscow-backed separatists erupted in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Sporadic fighting continues along the frontlines, with four Ukrainian soldiers killed by sniper fire and mine blasts since Friday.
Only 424 of the 450 seats in Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will be filled this election, as the rest represent Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, or territories controlled by separatists.
Of the 424 seats being filled, 225 members are elected from nationwide party lists, while the rest are directly elected in their districts. — NNN-AGENCIES
