Ukrainians head to the polls Sunday for snap elections expected to usher in a pro-Western parliament. The elections will spotlight President Poroshenko's truce deal with Russian President Putin, reports GHN based on DW.
Ukrainians are set to elect a pro-Western and nationalist-leaning parliament on Sunday that will solidify the war-torn nation's move away from Russian influence. It should give President Petro Poroshenko the power needed to end the bloody conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the country's east.
The parliamentary elections are the first since the ouster of Russia-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych following weeks of violent protests last winter. The new parliament is expected to be dominated by supporters of Yanukovych's successor, pro-Western Petro Poroshenko, who is keen to pursue his peace plan in eastern Ukraine and forge closer ties with Europe.
Poroshenko called for elections in May to sweep the remaining Yanukovych loyalists out of parliament, and a pro-Western majority in the assembly would enable him to carry out his agenda and break with the Soviet past.
"Without such a majority in parliament, the President's program...will simply remain on paper," Poroshenko said.
According to polls, the new 450-seat assembly will likely be dominated by pro-Europe parties, including Poroshenko's political bloc - which consists of the president's Solidarity party and the Udar party led by Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko.
"You will see, this will be an entirely new parliament," Poroshenko said in a televised address on Saturday, adding that the assembly to lead for the next five years should be "reforming, not corrupt, pro-Ukrainian and pro-European, not pro-Soviet."
Highlighting Ukraine's move toward the West, the Communist Party may fail to gain representation in parliament for the first time since the Soviet era.