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WORLD NEWS Saturday 18 January 2020

Ukrainian president rejects prime minister's resignation

By YURAS KARMANAU political rival Joe Biden. history teacher who is pro- enskiy's party. "Zelenskiy fears an internal
Associated Press In the audio recording that pelled to the highest office It presented a legal quan- political crisis and doesn't
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrai- surfaced earlier this week, after his rant against gov- dary since Ukrainian law want problems in talks with
nian President Volodymyr Honcharuk was heard ernment corruption goes prevent the Cabinet's dis- Western investors and the
Zelenskiy rejected his prime making what appeared to viral. missal for a year after it International Monetary
minister's offer to resign and Fund," said Volodymyr
asked him to stay on the job Sidenko, an analyst with
Friday after he was caught the Razumkov Center think
on tape saying Zelenskiy — tank.
a former sitcom star with ""Honcharuk's resignation
no previous political expe- can destroy the idea of
rience — knows nothing the government's unity and
about the economy. cast a doubt on Zelenskiy's
In a video released by Zel- ability to control the situa-
enskiy's office, the presi- tion."
dent called the situation Sidenko charged that ty-
"unpleasant" but asked coons unhappy with the
Prime Minister Oleksiy Hon- recent strengthening of
charuk and his Cabinet to the Ukrainian currency — a
carry on. move that hurt their busi-
"I decided to give you and ness — could be behind
your government a chance the scandal.
if you manage to solve im- "Several big oligarchs who
portant issues that the pub- own export-oriented busi-
lic worries about," Zelenskiy nesses were interested in
said as he faced Honcha- the resignation of Honcha-
ruk across the table. ruk's Cabinet," Sidenko said.
"It's not a moment when Honcharuk said that the re-
we can afford economic cording was a compilation
and political destabiliza- of "fragments of recorded
tion." government meetings,"
He instructed Honcharuk to and he blamed unidenti-
look into multimillion-dollar fied "influential groups" for
bonuses given to execu- making it look as if he didn't
tives of the state-controlled In this file photo taken Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, Ukraine's Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk during respect the president.
the business forum in Kyiv, Ukraine.
gas company and high sal- Associated Press "It is not true," the prime
aries for Cabinet ministers minister insisted.
that angered many in the Zelenskiy demanded an in-
economically struggling be disparaging comments In a Facebook post earlier presents its program. Hon- vestigation into the source
nation, directing the prime about Zelenskiy's under- Friday, Honcharuk praised charuk did so in Septem- of the recording.
minister to report his find- standing of economics. He Zelenskiy as "an example of ber. While Zelenskiy is a member
ings by Feb. 4. called Zelenskiy "a layman" transparency and decen- Analysts said the dismissal of Servant of the People
The furor comes at a in economics and said the cy to me" and argued that of Honcharuk and his Cabi- party and Honcharuk is an
fraught moment for Zelens- president should be better the recording was manipu- net would badly damage independent, it was Zelen-
kiy, who has found himself educated about the na- lated, but announced that the president and upset skiy who proposed him to
in the middle of the im- tional currency. he was submitting a letter Ukraine's talks with interna- the parliament as prime
peachment case unfold- Zelenskiy, 41, is a former of resignation "in order to tional lenders. minister.q
ing against President Don- comedian whose only po- dispel any doubts about
ald Trump in Washington. litical experience before his our respect and trust for the
Trump stands accused of election last spring consist- president."
withholding nearly $400 mil- ed of playing a Ukrainian The offer to step down was
lion in military aid to Ukraine president on TV. subject to approval by the
to pressure the country's He starred in "Servant of the Rada, Ukraine's parliament,
leader to investigate Trump People" as a high school which is dominated by Zel- linda.reijnders@cspnv.com