President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not give a direct answer to the question of whether he intends to dismiss Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. He said this at a press conference in response to a question from LB.ua.
"Can there be changes in the government? Probably, there can be. I am engaged in this process... We are discussing certain changes with some ministers. Shmyhal is one of the most important people in our government, he is the Prime Minister, of course, I am also discussing some things with him," Zelenskyy said.
At the same time, the President noted that at the beginning of his term, he was often accused of changing ministers too often, and now he is accused of "working too long".
When asked about the possible dismissal of the Prime Minister, the President replied: "We will talk about this later."
What preceded it
- Earlier, Ukrayinska Pravda reported, citing its own sources in the president's entourage, that he was "tired" of the prime minister and was probably planning to fire him. The sources said that Zelenskyy "does not even listen" to Shmyhal at meetings, and called his possible dismissal "more of an emotional thing than a miscalculation".
- A member of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, Fedir Venislavskyy, said on Radio Liberty that the Prime Minister's likely resignation could lead to the resignation of the entire Cabinet of Ministers, which is prohibited by law.
- According to him, Article 10 of the law "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" prohibits the termination of the government's powers during martial law. Therefore, Venislavskyy said, without changes to the law, there are currently no legal possibilities for Shmyhal's dismissal. At the same time, Venislavskyy announced "point decisions" to dismiss several ministers "whose performance raises questions".