New pro-European movements in Ukraine aim to replace President Zelensky's ruling party. Ukrainian commentator Dmytro Bobritski, in his op-ed, describes the evolving political landscape of the war-torn country.
In 2025, Ukraine may undergo a significant renewal of power. It is increasingly evident that the public is yearning for the rise of new political leaders, such as former armed forces chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. However, any transfer of power depends on the Ukrainian army's ability to halt the advance of Russian occupiers on the frontlines and secure an acceptable peace agreement with an aggressive Kremlin.
The Servant of the People party, which secured an absolute majority in Ukraine’s parliament in 2019, has almost no chance of maintaining its leadership position in the next elections—whether they are held this year after a ceasefire or later.
According to a survey conducted last fall by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 55% of Ukrainians expressed either very negative (32%) or somewhat negative (23%) views of Servant of the People’s performance in parliament. A similar fate befell former President Viktor Yushchenko’s party, Our Ukraine, in the mid-2000s, as well as other political projects associated with Ukraine’s presidents. None have stood the test of time.
Since winning the 2019 elections, over 20 Servant of the People MPs have been expelled from the party due to corruption or other scandals. In 2023, Zelensky admitted that the party’s candidate selection process was a fiasco. He even expressed willingness to dissolve parliament, though the law prohibits holding new elections during wartime. “Yes, Servant of the People is already a rotten fruit,” one member of Zelensky’s team, involved in founding the party, admitted to me. According to this insider, Zelensky’s closest advisors see no viable path forward for the ruling party in the next elections.