The reshuffle of the Ukrainian government, triggered on Tuesday, September 3, by a series of resignations of ministers, continued on Wednesday evening with the publication of a list of candidates for the highest positions in power. This rotation of people for “strengthen the state”, The decision, communicated by the leader of the presidential Servant of the People party, David Arakhamia, following a meeting of the political group, still needs to be approved by Parliament to be implemented.
Criticized by the opposition for its scale and timing, it in any case confirms the government's desire to replace the very popular Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, with Andrii Sybiha, the first deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a seasoned diplomat. On Wednesday, the minister, appreciated by the West and an ardent defender of Ukraine's entry into NATO, was the last to submit his letter of resignation as part of the most important ministerial reshuffle since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
“Need new energy”
The personnel change comes at a crucial time for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares for a fall visit to the United States to present a “victory plan” to US President Joe Biden and the two candidates in the November presidential election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It also comes a month after the launch of an unprecedented Ukrainian offensive on the Russian region of Kursk, and as Kiev's armed forces retreat in the face of assaults by the Russian army in the Donetsk region in the east of the country.
It is in this context that the Ukrainian authorities justified this reshuffle, insisting on the need to ” to strenghten “ the Ukrainian state in various key areas. Ukraine has “need new energy” after two and a half years of war with Russia, the Ukrainian president said on Wednesday.
This reshuffle also allows for a breath of fresh air as the prospect of legislative and presidential elections is blocked as long as the war lasts. The Ukrainian president, whose five-year term ended this year, explains that it is impossible to hold an election campaign that would risk dividing the country. Elections would also be very difficult to organize, given the daily bombings, the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians enlisted in the army and the millions of others living abroad. Conclusions that the majority of the population shares, according to the latest opinion polls.
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Source: Lemonde