Shmyhal’s government can be dismissed to move Avakov – Mass media

In the fall, Denys Shmyhal's government may resign in order to dismiss Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who has held the post since 2014 and has survived two government resignations under Zelenskyi alone.

Ukrainska Pravda informed about this, Rubryka reports.

"I see some emotional fatigue of the 'first' one from the entire Cabinet. In President's Office, it hangs in the air that the government needs to be reset in the fall because almost everyone has questions. And to Lazebna, and to Taran, and to Abramovskyi and the rest."

The government also says that in the fall they may "provoke a small government crisis and remove the Cabinet."

It is noted that "apart from the synchronicity of Zelenskyi and the Cabinet in general, there's one more thing that may push the president to restart the government: the resignation of the entire Cabinet may be the most realistic scenario for the dismissal of Arsen Avakov.

According to the publication's sources, people "have long wanted to move" the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but doing it is difficult.

It is noted that first, for 7 years of being a leader of a powerful law enforcement agency Avakov has "compromising information on all political forces of the country," and second, thanks to his experience he built a serious lobby in parliament; his supporters are in the "For the Future" group, among deputies from "Dovira," "Servant of the People" and "Batkivshchyna."

And, third, Avakov, sometimes out of desperation, is supported by the old elite, including representatives of big business.

Under such conditions, the Minister of Internal Affairs allows himself to criticize the next sanctions or the law on oligarchs at the meetings of the National Security and Defense Council, which openly irritates the new team.

In addition, the media and electoral negativity from Avakov is gradually beginning to go to the detriment of Zelenskyi himself.

It's especially true of the case of journalist Pavel Sheremet's murder: as the actions of supporters of the accused take place on Bankova Street, and Zelenskyi is constantly asked questions about the sufficiency of the evidence and personal responsibility.

According to the newspaper's sources, a few months ago the head of the President's Office, Andrii Yermak, "tried quite hard to think of a way to dismiss Avakov" and even instructed Tatarov to look for candidates.

The article authors note that there are only two options for resolving the issue of the Minister of Internal Affairs: either to disperse peacefully, or overthrow the entire current government and "lose Avakov" on the way to a new one.

At the same time, the sources,  close to the Minister of Internal Affairs, are convinced that currently, the lack of a real candidate is the main reason why Zelenskyi hasn't changed anything yet.

As Rubryka reported earlier, NV journalists wrote that the President's Office was considering the possibility of Avakov's dismissal.