Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government accepted the resignation of his prime minister.
The emergence of a recording in January, in which Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said Zelensky, a former TV comedian, knew nothing about the economy of Ukraine, prompted Honcharuk to offer his resignation.
The parliament voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to accept it in a 353-0 vote, with 40 abstentions. The dominant party of the legislature is Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, which is named after a sitcom in which he once starred.
The insulting remark wasn’t the only motivating factor in Honcharuk’s removal; Zelensky told parliament that Honcharuk failed to halt industrial decline and meet tax collection goals.
“We need new brains and new hearts in the government,” Zelensky said. The parliament approved Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmygal to take over from Honcharuk.
“The citizens’ expectations are enormous, and their patience is running out,” Shmygal told lawmakers. “We need results today.”
Two members of the Cabinet were also sacked. The foreign minister and the defense minister were replaced because Zelensky, who ran for office on an anti-corruption platform, said that although the Cabinet members weren’t corrupt, they didn’t do enough to crack down on corruption.
“It’s not enough not to steal,” he said. “We promised citizens to win the fight against corruption, and it hasn’t even been a tie.”
Zelensky found himself at the center of the House impeachment investigation into President Trump. Central to the accusations of misconduct was a July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky, which was the subject of a whistleblower complaint against the president.
A transcript of the call was later released, and Trump defended the conversation by calling it a “perfect” call. The Senate acquitted Trump of two charges last month.
