100 days of Vladimir Zelensky: what the president of Ukraine did and what did not

20 May Vladimir Zelensky became the current president of Ukraine. We summarize the main results of the first 100 days of the reign of the new Ukrainian leader.

Photo: president.gov.ua

What did Vladimir Zelensky do

1. Change of elites

The main achievement of Vladimir Zelensky and his team is the successful continuation of the “reset of power,” said Alexander Kornienko, who headed the headquarters of the party “Servant of the People” founded by the sixth president of Ukraine during the parliamentary elections and will soon head it, writes RBC.

“Despite some resistance from the old elites who tried to challenge the legality of the early parliamentary elections in the Constitutional Court, they managed to hold them. At 75%, the composition of the parliament was updated. At the same time, the voters expressed great support for our political power, gave a serious credit of trust for the implementation of the changes that the president and we spoke about in the parliamentary campaign, ”he says.

“Zelensky unconditionally won the third round of the presidential election, which his team reasonably called early parliamentary elections. Moreover, his young party of “faceless” politicians received a confident majority in parliament and the right to single-handedly form a cabinet of ministers, as well as the entire vertical of executive power in the country, ”agrees political consultant Alexander Kharebin, who worked with Zelensky’s team.

For the first time in the history of Ukraine, the defeat of the "old" political elites ensured the concentration of all branches of power in the country, except for the "fourth", in the hands of the president. This implies Zelensky’s personal responsibility for everything that happens, including a monopoly on both future victories and defeats, the expert warns.

2. Replacements in the Governor's Corps

Zelensky’s office announced the intention to dismiss all heads of regional administrations shortly after the inauguration, on June 10.

“The President of Ukraine insists that all governors should be fired. Now we are talking about the dismissal of 13 governors, ”said presidential spokeswoman Julia Mendel, noting that the process of selecting candidates for new regional leaders is ongoing.

On the subject: Zelensky took the second place among the most mentioned people in the Russian media, ahead of Trump

3. Intensified work on the exchange of detainees and prisoners

From what has not been fully managed, one can call the exchange of prisoners, admits Kornienko. However, all the experts interviewed by RBC agree that the Zelensky team is actively trying to solve this problem. The topic of the exchange of seafarers is very important for the president, he emphasized it during the campaign and he considers it one of the key in resolving the conflict with Russia, an RBC interlocutor in the office of the president of Ukraine said earlier.

Last week, Ukrainian Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova flew to Moscow, and her Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova interrupted her vacation for a working visit to Kiev. At the same time, RBC interlocutors who were familiar with the negotiations said that the countries were close to completing the process of exchanging held citizens on the territory of both countries. According to them, Moscow and Kiev settled on the formula for exchanging 33 for 33 people, excluding the chief editor of the Ukrainian RIA Novosti, Kirill Vyshinsky.

In addition, the interlocutor of RBC in the office of the President of Ukraine relates to Zelensky’s achievements another related topic related to the conflict with Russia - the revival of the negotiation process in Minsk and the withdrawal of troops in Stanitsa Lugansk, which is supervised by a tripartite contact group in Minsk.

Photo: president.gov.ua

What could not be done

1. Replacing the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense

The President of Ukraine has the authority to submit for approval by the Verkhovna Rada only two cabinet members - the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, the previous convocation of the Rada refused to confirm the resignation of both ministers - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin and Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak.

With the consent of the Rada, the president is also authorized to appoint or dismiss the heads of two main law enforcement structures - the Security Service and the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. At the moment, they are also not assigned. Companion Zelensky on the studio "Quarter 95" Ivan Bakanov from May 22 is the acting head of the SBU. The prosecutor general remains Yuri Lutsenko.

2. Change of law

The parliament did not demonstrate cooperation, and the first laws that the president introduced after the election sabotaged, recalls Kornienko. The first meeting of the Rada will be held on August 29. On it, presumably, the candidate for the post of prime minister will be named.

Among the bills promised by Zelensky in the election campaign are the law “On Democracy” (fixing the mechanism by which “the people of Ukraine will formulate the main tasks for the authorities through referenda and other forms of direct democracy”), bills “On the removal of immunity from the President of Ukraine, People’s Deputies and judges ”,“ On the impeachment of the president of Ukraine ”and“ On the recall of the people's deputy of Ukraine ”.

On the subject: The Washington Post: 'Zelensky can deal a crushing blow to Putin's imperial ambitions'

3. Criminal prosecution of corrupt officials

Experts consider Zelensky’s failure that the country “has not yet been punished and imprisoned,” given the president’s campaign slogan “Spring is coming - we will plant it.”

“Spring has passed, summer has ended, but the public’s request for justice is still not satisfied. The indicative emotional “flogging” of officials, public rhetoric and Zelensky’s close attention to the hot spots of corruption that are widely known in narrow circles are still perceived by both the population and participants in corruption schemes with caution and mistrust regarding the ability of the law enforcement and judicial systems to bring the fight to the end, ” Kharebin explains. In his opinion, autumn will become a rubicon for Zelensky, who will determine his future as the president of Ukraine, and will also set the format and the final model of relations in the president-parliament relationship.

“Zelensky includes the Lukashenko regime for the domestic consumer - yes, people like it,” acknowledges the ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada and one of the official speakers of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc in parliament, Alexander Chernenko. “But this is a scam in the manual mode to the public, not yet bearing any systemic changes,” he adds.

Photo: president.gov.ua

How Ukrainian voters evaluate Zelensky’s actions

The director of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, a Ukrainian sociologist Irina Bekeshkina, told RBC that Zelensky has a high rating.

“So far, he is not particularly annoying to voters. People like him for him, ”she said.

The fund asked Ukrainians how they evaluate Zelensky’s first steps as president (without specifying them), and found that more than 70% of Ukrainians approve of them, Bekeshkina said, refusing to provide specific data before the rating is published.

“It is obvious that people like that Zelensky brought new people to power, won the parliamentary elections and got an absolute majority in the Rada. Ukrainians like that the president is talking toughly with superiors, which they don’t like, trying to figure out the violations of officials, ”the director of the fund continues.

“Unlike his predecessor, Poroshenko, Zelensky worked during the campaign and continues to work at the beginning of his presidential term, not through promises, but through the expectations of voters,” said Ukrainian political technologist Sergey Gaidai.

On the subject: The results of elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: Zelensky will have a one-party majority

“Having become the head of state, Poroshenko promised to sell all his business assets, strengthen the hryvnia, end the war with Russia as soon as possible ... Instead, there was a tragedy in Ilovaisk, it turned out that the factory in Lipetsk continued to work, toxic characters were appointed - people from business Poroshenko's environment. So in the first 100 days, he lost half of his electorate, and the Popular Front took the second half, ”explains the political strategist.

Zelensky actually had no opportunity to carry out his program, continues Gaidai.

“For all these 100 days, he was not engaged in real changes, but fought with parliament and got into doggies with local officials,” he explains.

“When Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia, he planted a large number of people in 100 days, carried out a reform of law enforcement agencies ... People could somehow evaluate these 100 days. As soon as Zelensky won the election, he immediately told the public that he couldn’t work - he was hindered by the hostile Rada, which needed to be dispersed, bad local governors, petty corrupt officials, ”states Gaidai.

Zelensky did not promise anything concrete, the expert continues: he played on the expectations of voters who had "been in the air for a long time." Zelensky casually touches these expectations, identifying topics such as libertarianism, the state in a smartphone, etc.

“For these 100 days he did not lose, but only brought the expectations of the electorate to a new level. In fact, he continued his campaign. This, perhaps, can be called his achievement. However, he raised the rates, ”says Gaidai.

Now the parliament is also Zelensky, the expert continues. Now he and his team can appoint and remove any minister. Now all responsibility is on them. Although he delayed the time when they asked him, he actually complicated his task, summarizes Gaidai.

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