Comedian poised for last laugh as Ukraine heads to the polls
Actor who plays president in TV show set for the real thing after incumbent fails to land significant blows
UKRAINE’S president faced off against a comedian challenging him for his job in a grandiose, vitriolic election debate at Kiev’s Olympic stadium last night.
After weeks of bickering that saw each candidate put up his own stage in the stadium, Petro Poroshenko, the country’s leader since 2014, shook hands with television star Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
But any cordiality ended there as the extraordinary challenger, who plays the president in a hit television show, accused the incumbent of corruption. In turn, Mr Poroshenko attacked Mr Zelenskiy’s inexperience and vague campaign platform.
“If he doesn’t have the answers, he’s a weak leader who won’t be able to withstand [Vladimir] Putin,” Mr Poroshenko thundered.
“I will do everything so your kind of politics no longer exists,” Mr Zelenskiy replied, adding that he would put Mr Poroshenko on trial. “I’m not your opponent, I’m your conviction,” he said.
Barring a force majeure, life will imitate art and Mr Zelenskiy will become the head of state of the war-torn nation after the vote tomorrow.
In a poll released on Thursday, 19 per cent said they would vote for Mr Poroshenko and 52 per cent for Mr Zelenskiy, with the rest undecided or not planning to participate.
Five years after protests toppled a pro-russian president, little progress has been made on reforms and the fight against endemic corruption. Ukraine is now the poorest country in Europe and a low-level conflict with Russianbacked separatists in two eastern regions continues to claim lives.
Fed up with economic and political turmoil, 30 per cent of voters shunned stalwarts such as former Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister, and Mr Poroshenko to pick outsider Mr Zelenskiy in the first round of voting last month.
The debate with Mr Poroshenko was to be a rare chance to question Mr Zelenskiy – who forsook a traditional campaign for a comedy tour – about his policy positions.
Representatives of 20 media organisations signed a letter this week calling on Mr Zelenskiy to hold a press conference about his vision for the country. But there was little room for policy as the candidates took turns asking each other questions that quickly devolved into insults and insinuations.
Mr Poroshenko accused his challenger of making Ukraine “a prostitute for your jokes” and claimed he was in the pocket of Ihor Kolomoisky, the oligarch who broadcasts his television programmes.
Unfazed, Mr Zelenskiy pointed out that Mr Poroshenko was an oligarch himself, owning a confectionery business that until recently had a factory in Russia.
“The president shouldn’t be an oligarch, the president should be a person of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
On Thursday, a court ruled that Mr Kolomoisky’s Privatbank had been illegally nationalised by Mr Poroshenko, a decision some believe was pushed through so that Mr Zelenskiy would not face accusations of nepotism.
As the moderators attempted to bring the debate to a close after less than an hour, a solemn Mr Poroshenko tried to lead the crowd in another round of the Ukrainian hymn, while a beaming Mr Zelenskiy kissed his wife, waved and flashed hand signs.
The acrimonious debate was a fitting end to what some have called the dirtiest campaign in Ukrainian history.
Both candidates have suffered corruption scandals. Mr Poroshenko has allegedly employed so-called “black PR” firms to smear Mr Zelenskiy, with one particularly tasteless video showing him being hit by a lorry.
Meanwhile, Russia’s troll factory allegedly hired the Facebook accounts of real Ukrainians in order to spread false information.
Days before the vote, Moscow banned exports of oil products to its neighbour, while the Russian media reported that the Kremlin was preparing a streamlined process for residents of the breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship.
Alexei Chesnakov, an analyst who has advised the Kremlin on Ukraine, suggested that the announcement was a test of Mr Zelenskiy, who recently said he would not lift onerous measures against eastern Ukraine.
“After the election, Zelenskiy could say we need to look at improving the situation with Donbass [region], then Moscow could say we won’t give out these passports,” Mr Chesnakov said. “It depends on Zelenskiy’s behaviour after [the] election.”
Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst, said Mr Poroshenko had already shifted focus to October’s parliamentary elections, where he hopes to take his revenge as prime minister. “He needs to retain his voters now,” he added. “He needs to show a fair number of voters support him and preserve that for the parliamentary elections.”
‘I will do everything so your kind of politics no longer exist ... I’m not your opponent, I’m your conviction’