Ukraine ruling coalition collapses, snap elections likely

Ukraine’s ruling coalition broke up on Friday after the People’s Front party quit outgoing President Petro Poroshenko’s faction, potentially paving the way for incoming President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to call a snap election.

“We declare our withdrawal from the current coalition, the cessation of its activities ... and the initiative to form a new coalition with a new agenda,” Maksym Burbak, the People’s Front faction leader, told parliament.

Zelenskiy, who defeated incumbent Petro Poroshenko in a landslide victory last month, had called for his swearing in “as fast as possible” to avoid a power vacuum after saying he’d consider dissolving parliament and holding a snap general ballot before the regularly scheduled vote in October. Zelenskiy’s inauguration is set for May 20.

But the People’s Front effectively dashed the chances of an early vote. Its withdrawal from the coalition gives parties 30 days to assemble a new ruling majority -- a period that means Zelenskiy will miss the deadline for calling early elections, which can only happen more than six months before parliament’s term expires.

“The new circumstances demand a maximum consolidation of forces in parliament,” Burbak said. “A new president, a new agenda, a new coalition. The People’s Front parliamentary group states that the coalition created in 2014 and in force until today has fulfilled its tasks.”

Burbak said that talks to form a new coalition should begin immediately and the regular parliamentary elections should be held Oct. 27.