Ukraine is in the midst of a new round of reforms. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party, Servant of the People, swept to victory in 2019, as both a novelty (he is a former comedic actor) and protest vote against economic precarity and the slow pace of anti-corruption reform. Zelenskyy’s government is the first in modern Ukraine to enjoy a sufficient parliamentary majority to govern without coalition and pass laws without allies.
Pragmatically, Zelenskyy’s government understand they have a small time window, as political parties are quick to lose support with Ukraine’s justifiably jaded population. With public urgency, Servant of the People launched a self-described “turbo-mode” of legislating in the first months of their majority. While this process resulted in a flood of passed legislation, detractors and opposition parliamentarians have noted that the Ukrainian government has frequently moved forward with sparse regard for democratic process or civil society input.
Out of the gate in 2020, the Ukrainian government is trying to tackle issues which have, in recent years, proved too controversial to advance in coalition parliaments. These include two areas of law that may impact Ukraine’s democracy and development for decades to come: land reform, and labour and employment law. Legislation lifting a moratorium on the private purchase of farmland is currently attracting domestic opposition and international attention. However, a package of draft labour and employment laws may be more destabilising and could undermine fundamental human rights.
