(VOVworld) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has dissolved the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, and set a date of October 26 for early legislative elections.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (Photo: Getty)

In an official announcement published on the President’s website on Monday, Poroshenko said that the issue of elections arose a month ago when the ruling coalition broke up and lawmakers failed to form a new coalition of at least 226 deputies within a month.
Poroshenko said this was “the most responsible and suitable decision” based on public opinion surveys in which 80 per cent of Ukrainians supported early elections. Poroshenko said the Parliament does not represent Ukraine’s politics and that early elections are part of a plan that includes political dialogue with Donbass in eastern Ukraine. He said the deputies selected by Donbass voters should win the confidence and the right to represent their region in talks with the Kiev government.