In August, then-speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Andriy Parubiy, sent a new election code to Zelensky for signing. However, the president vetoed the document, believing that some of its provisions ran contrary to the constitution. He suggested that lawmakers finalize the document and reconsider it.
In April, Ukraine's ex-President Petro Poroshenko was soundly defeated by 41-year-old Volodymyr Zelensky in the second and decisive round of the country's presidential election. Zelensky won the first election round with 30.24 percent of the votes, while Poroshenko gained 15.95 percent.
According to the Constitution of Ukraine (1996), the president is the head of state. The president is elected on the basis of universal equal suffrage in a free direct election by secret ballot for a term of five years.