Former comedian’s party on course for Ukraine majority

EARLY results have shown that president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s new party is poised to win a majority in Ukraine’s parliamentary election, giving the former comedian free reign to enact sweeping anti-corruption reforms.

If this bears out as the remaining votes are counted, it would be the first time in Ukraine’s post-soviet history that a single party has controlled parliament.

The president called the snap election after he swept to power in April on promises to pass reforms like a tax amnesty and an end to parliamentarians’ immunity from prosecution. The old guard parliament has so far stymied his initiatives and appointments.

His Servant of the People party, named after the television show in which Mr Zelenskiy previously played a teacher-turned-president, had the support of up to half of voters in polling before Sunday’s vote. It was reportedly holding preliminary coalition talks with Voice, another new party founded by rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.

But Servant of the People now stands to win more than half the legislative body through Ukraine’s mixed system. The party has done unexpectedly well in the 199 of 424 seats that are filled by first-past-the-post district races.

With 82 per cent of the ballots counted last night, Servant of the People had 252 seats, Opposition Platform had 43, European Solidarity 25, Fatherland 25 and Voice 21.

Twenty-six seats will remain empty as these districts in eastern Ukraine were taken over by Russia-backed separatists. Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed on Sunday, the first day of the latest attempt to rejuvenate a ceasefire.