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Ukraine's new Rada takes shape after snap vote
Summary
A look back at the political landscape in Kyiv three days after the 21 July 2019 parliamentary election gave President Zelensky's party a majority.
What did Ukraine's parliament look like on 24 July 2019, three days after voters chose a new Verkhovna Rada? The answer was a chamber dominated by a single party, a rare outcome for the country's legislature.
The vote took place on 21 July 2019, after President Volodymyr Zelensky dissolved the previous parliament in May. The background to the election shows it had originally been scheduled for the end of October, and it was brought forward after the dissolution on 21 May 2019, during his inauguration.
Five parties clear the threshold
Five parties entered the new chamber: Servant of the People, Opposition Platform – For Life, European Solidarity, the Batkivshchyna party and Holos. In addition, 199 deputies were elected under the majoritarian system in single-member constituencies.
A comfortable majority
Servant of the People, the president's party, won most of the seats and secured a comfortable majority. Later counting put its total at 254 seats, an outright majority. That meant the party had a clear path to governing without needing partners among the other four parties that entered parliament.
By 24 July 2019, the main outlines of the result were therefore in place: a president who had called the early election, a party bearing his political stamp in command of the chamber, and four other forces sitting in opposition benches or in the minority.
