Ukraine’s ruling coalition broke up 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.
Parliament now has one month to form a new coalition or else the president can dissolve parliament and call snap parliamentary elections.
Zelenskiy won a landslide against Poroshenko last month but his newly formed party lacks any representation in parliament.
A snap election would probably suit Zelenskiy, whose popularity is high and whose party is on course to win the election while falling short of a majority.
Zelenskiy, a comedian with no prior political experience, is to be inaugurated Monday.
Speaker Andriy Parubiy told parliament the coalition had ceased its activities and said “within one month from today ... a new coalition should be formed.”
