Ukrainian Media: Saakashvili is trying to convince MPs to approve his candidacy for deputy prime minister
Georgia's third president Mikheil Saakashvili expressed confidence that the majority of Ukrainian MPs will support his appointment as deputy prime minister. The politician places special hope on the "Servants of the People" faction, as it was President Volodymyr Zelensky who offered him this position. The ex-president explained the reluctance of the majority of representatives of the presidential political force to vote for him by the effect of surprise and "confusion" of deputies.
"I believe that the votes will be there. I'm very optimistic. The faction simply has not come together yet. It's like going from ship into a party. The news came unexpectedly for everyone, and people were confused," Saakashvili said on the air of the TV channel "Ukraine 24" on the evening of Sunday, April 26.
He recalled that on the eve of the parliamentary elections in 2019 he urged Ukrainians not to vote for his party "Movement of New Forces" but to support the "Servant of the People."
"In the elections, when I saw that my party " Movement of New Forces" takes 2-3% from the "Servant of the People" but does not get into the parliament, I urged our voters, many thousands of Ukrainians, to vote for the "Servant of the People" in order not to take away their majority. I kind of made my passive contribution to this," the politician said.
Saakashvili called his recent meeting with the "Servant of the People" faction "interesting." He also expressed hope that he will also meet with the deputies and find arguments for them in favor of appointing him a deputy prime minister.
Commenting on conversations with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Speaker Dmytro Razumkov, Saakashvili pointed to the need to improve the efficiency of communication between parliament and government.
"Ukraine is a parliamentary-presidential state, so most of the initiatives should come from the parliament," the former president of Georgia said.
However, members of the " Servant of the People" faction report that the majority of deputies are not ready to vote for Saakashvili's appointment.
He, in turn, emphasizes that he is interested in a position in the Cabinet, and not in the Office of the President, where Zelensky could appoint him without the approval of the Parliament.
According to Mikheil Saakashvili, Volodymyr Zelensky offered him the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Reforms.
Ukrainian media reports that the candidacy of Saakashvili was proposed by the head of the Head of the Presidential Administration Andrii Yermak. He has known the former president of Georgia for a long time. Both studied at the Faculty of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
At the same time, the majority of the "Servant of the People" faction are skeptical about the idea of granting Saakashvili a position in the Cabinet. MPs fear that he will use it for self-promotion and then leave the government with a scandal to lead his political project to the elections.