Ukraine's President gives PM Oleksiy Honcharuk second chance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday rejected his Prime Minister’s offer to resign and gave him a second chance asking him to stay in office. Oleksiy Honcharuk was caught on tape opinionating that Zelenski knows nothing about the economy on January 17. 

Could not afford destabilisation

In a video reportedly released by Zelensky’s office on Friday evening, the President called the situation unpleasant but asked the current Prime Minister and his cabinet to carry on with their duties. In the video, the President stated that he had decided on giving Honcharuk and his government “a second chance”  if they manage to solve important issues that cause the public to worry. He further said that it wasn’t a moment when the country could afford economic and political destabilisation. 

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Furthermore, the actor turned politician instructed the PM to look into the multimillion-dollar bonuses given to executives of the state-controlled gas company and the high salaries of the cabinet ministers which had created an outrage in the public. He then asked the PM to submit his findings before February 4. 

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The Ukranian Prime Minister submitted his resignation to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on January 17 after less than six months in the role. The resignation came just hours after an audiotape of an informal meeting with few ministers and top officials from the National Bank was leaked online. According to the tape, Honcharuk was of the opinion that Zelenskiy had a “very primitive” understanding of the economy. 

While Zelenskiy office did not react to the leak, the Ukranian Prime Minister, in a video address, said that there have been many attacks in the media and online against him personally and against the government. He had asserted that such attacks indicated the government was on the right track which has already blocked a lot of “corruption schemes” and are “stopping robbers from continuing to rob the country”.