Ukraine's new president has formally ordered the country's parliament to dissolve and called an early election for July, hoping to ride a wave of electoral success to get his supporters into parliament.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old TV comedian who won 73 per cent of the presidential vote last month, announced his intention of disbanding parliament in his inauguration speech on Monday, saying current lawmakers were too focused on self-enrichment and lacked public trust.
He quickly fulfilled the promise in Tuesday's decree, which set a parliamentary election for July 21.
Zelenskiy's landslide victory reflected Ukrainians' exasperation with the country's economic woes, rampant official corruption and the nation's political elite.
The election to Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada legislature was originally scheduled for October 27.
That would have left Zelenskiy facing a parliament dominated by supporters of the man he beat, former President Petro Poroshenko, and unable to pursue his anti-corruption agenda for months.
Zelenskiy became famous for playing the role of a Ukrainian president in a popular TV sitcom.
Australian Associated Press
