KYIV, April 26 – Mikheil Saakashvili, the former reformist president of Georgia, said Sunday he needs more time for talks with Ukrainian political groups to secure support for his appointment to the government.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy invited Saakashvili to join the government as the deputy prime minister for reforms, but the Parliamentary approval appears to be delayed for at least a week as discussions with the groups continue.

“There will be [enough] votes. I am very optimistic,” Saakashvili said in comments reported by Interfax-Ukraine, days after his talks with Zelenskiy’s party, the Servant of the People, led to no agreement.

“There was simply no mobilization yet at the [the Servant of the People] group,” Saakashvili said. “This [nomination] came unexpectedly and people were confused.”

The Servant of the People controls majority of seats in Parliament, which means the party can unilaterally approve the appointment, but some lawmakers have indicated that securing support from other groups may be needed for the successful vote.

Parliamentary Speaker Dmytro Razumkov said Sunday that lawmakers may hold an emergency session towards the end of the week to debate and approve unspecified government appointments. This represents at least one-week delay as some lawmakers have previously expected such session to take place Friday.

Saakashvili has turned the crisis-stricken and economically depressed Georgia into a robust and successful regional powerhouse by eliminating corruption throughout the government and launching economic reforms.

Saakashvili, who also has the Ukrainian citizenship, was invited to help Ukraine with reforms in 2015 by then President Petro Poroshenko, who had appointed him as the governor of the Odesa region, known to be notoriously corrupt. But most of Saakashvili’s suggested reforms were blocked by the central government in Kyiv, controlled by Poroshenko, leading to a widening conflict between the two.

Less than a year later, Saakashvili resigned and accused the government of covering up corruption. Poroshenko reacted by revoking Saakashvili’s citizenship and ordering his forceful deportation from Ukraine.

Saakashvili was able to return to Ukraine after Zelenskiy had reinstated his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019.

By appointing Saakashvili to the government, Zelenskiy seeks to bolster his government’s reform credentials, which have been shattered by a government reshuffle in March. He replaced young and reformist government with people believed to be affiliated with powerful business tycoons.

Ukraine must accelerate reforms in order to qualify for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Without billions in in lending from the IMF, Ukraine will have a particularly difficult time repaying foreign debts this year and next as the economy is currently at a standstill due to coronavirus quarantine. (tl/ez)