KYIV -- Ukraine's parliament has voted to appoint Ruslan Stefanchuk, a lawmaker from the ruling Servant of the People party, as the new speaker.
A total of 261 lawmakers in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada backed Stefanchuk's appointment on October 8.
He is replacing Dmytro Razumkov, who was removed the previous day amid differences between him and the ruling Servant of the People party.
Razumkov was a member of the ruling party until he assumed the post of parliament speaker in 2019, months after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected.
He has openly opposed the quick passing of legislation intended to limit the influence of oligarchs on politics and business.
Razumkov called for the bill to be referred to the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, a body of independent experts in the field of constitutional law, but the legislation was passed last month.
