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Zelensky openly opposed old political system in Ukraine, says expert

On Monday, Vladimir Zelensky was sworn as the Ukrainian President during an official ceremony in Verkhovna Rada

KIEV, May 20. /TASS/. The inauguration speech of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky testifies that the new head of state has launched an open attack on the old political system, Head of the Ukrainian Institute for Analysis and Political Management Ruslan Bortnik said on Monday.

"Zelensky launched an offensive against the old political system, which he promised to do. He immediately called on the government to step down and announced early parliamentary elections," the political scientist said. Before recently there was hope that politicians would succeed in negotiating with Zelensky’s team that he President would not "destroy the political system to this extent", but this did not happen, the expert continued.

"In fact, he collided with our political system. I believe that now his opponents and media will actively work against him, he will feel such pressure that he didn’t feel during the whole election campaign," Bortnik said. The expert believes that the new head of state practically "made the Parliament seem guilty for everything that had happened in the country", however, MPs can oppose Zelensky’s decision to hold early elections.

"The Parliament can challenge [the Rada dissolution —TASS] in court, however, considering the popularity of the President, Verkhovna Rada won’t be able to resist and put spokes into his wheels for long," he said. He believes that the lack of coalition will be the argument behind the dissolution, while MPs will have to prove otherwise in court.

On Monday, Vladimir Zelensky was sworn as the Ukrainian President during an official ceremony in Verkhovna Rada. The President announced that he is dissolving the eighth convocation of the Parliament and, at the same time, called on the MPs to pass a number of important laws in the coming two months, such as the abolition of parliamentary immunity, criminal liability for illegal enrichment and adopting an electoral code with changes to the Rada election system, which would provide for open electoral lists.