ch-ch-changes
a flurry of activity in Ukraine; economists advance to Lithuania's 2nd round
ukraine update
A flurry of political activity erupted in Ukraine over the past several days.
Volodymyr Zelensky will be inaugurated as Ukraine’s sixth president on Monday, May 20. The Parliament approved this inauguration date — only one day later than Zelensky requested for himself — in a vote on Thursday. Assuming the presidency on this date would allow Zelensky to follow through on an idea he has floated for weeks: to dissolve parliament and call snap elections before the May 26 deadline, six months before parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held. But, lest Ukrainian politics seem fairly calm for more than 24 hours…
…this morning the People’s Front party left the ruling coalition in parliament, causing the coalition to collapse and creating an obstacle for Zelensky (more in Ukrainian here). The constitution allows parliament 30 days to create a new ruling coalition. During that period, parliament cannot be dissolved. If parliament takes the full 30 days it has been allotted and forms a new coalition on June 16, it will be too late for Zelensky to call for its dissolution, leaving him with a potentially adversarial legislature for the first seven months of his term.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin resigned in a video address today. The Poroshenko appointee says he plans to run for parliament.
New from me: I spent a lot of time during Ukraine’s presidential election combing through political content on Facebook. Despite the social platform’s claims that it was protecting Ukrainian elections from disinformation, I observed a slow and shoddy enforcement of the company’s own rules on political advertising. That should worry Europe as it heads to the polls next weekend, and the U.S. as it prepares for 2020. Read my piece for POLITICO Europe.
lithuanian presidential elections
(An informal poll between the second-round candidates in a Vilnius Coffee Shop.)
Economists Gitanas Nauseda and Ingrida Simonyte advanced to the second round of the Lithuanian presidential election with 31.2 and 27.2 per cent of the vote, respectively. As the candidates’ programs differ only slightly, Lithuanian analysts expect the winner of the race will be determined by who turns out for the second round on May 26, in a battle of the old guard versus the new. Low turnout would likely benefit Simonyte, who is affiliated with the ruling conservative party, represents “traditional” politicians, and finds support among regular voters in large cities. High turnout, particularly in the regions, is expected to benefit Nauseda, a political outsider.
Campaign posters have finally started appearing around Vilnius; most are for Simonyte, and the informal coffee shop poll I encountered yesterday suggested her support in the capital was strong… at least among coffee-drinkers :)
On a lighter note, yesterday was Vishivanka Day, Ukraine’s holiday celebrating the traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt. Since I began living in Ukraine I’ve acquired a few too many of them… but pride in one’s heritage is priceless 😉
In honor of the holiday, here’s my latest acquisition!
(📸 by the one and only Pete Kiehart, who just photographed an incredible feature for the New York Times on a Georgian folk sporting tadition.)