Ukrainian presidential candidate says ready to dissolve parliament

Ukrainian presidential candidate Vladimir Zelensky, nominated by the Servant of the People political party, does not rule out that if elected president, he will dissolve the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), as he himself said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, published on Thursday.

"We will think about dissolving the parliament," he said.

At the same time, Zelensky pointed out that the country’s law defined a time frame for the parliament’s dissolution. "I am afraid I won’t have enough time. I won’t break the law, won’t violate it. If we manage to do it six months before the next election, which is when we have the right to dissolve the parliament…," Zelensky noted, adding that "we [his team - TASS] will benefit from it."

However, Zelensky does not believe that Ukraine’s incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko will be able to form a large faction following the next parliamentary election and become an opposition leader.

"You know, he is currently the main leader but he is in opposition to the Ukrainian people. This is what the situation is and this is the most frightening thing. If I were him - and thank God I am not - I would retire from politics after receiving such a mind blowing response from society," Zelensky said. "He is a well-off person, even a wealthy one, he can cherish the memories of what he did for Ukraine. I think society will appreciate some things but there are things it will never forgive," he emphasized.

The first round of the Ukrainian presidential election was held on March 31. Leader of the Servant of the People political party Vladimir Zelensky came in first, garnering 30.24% of the vote, followed by incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko, who received 15.95%. Since none of the candidates managed to get more than 50% of the vote, the top two are headed towards a runoff scheduled to take place on April 21.