Zelenskiy wins first round of Ukrainian presidential election

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 01 Apr 2019 by Alex Teddy

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As we predicted Zelenskiy came top in the first round. What surprised everyone is how he outperformed the polls and won 30%. Sitting President Poroshenko came second with a distant 16%. Yulia Tymoshenko came third. Poroshenko's foes said he would rig the poll. There is scant evidence of this. Poroshenko has made nationalism the main plank of his campaign. His slogan was 'Poroshenko or Putin'. This hyperbole has not connected with enough voters for Poroshenko to win. Three western regions voted for Poroshenko. Zelenskiy won every other region except one in the very east which was carried by Boyko.Until three months ago the comedian Zelenskiy had evinced no interest in politics. His critics slam him as a policy-free tool of an exiled Israeli-Ukrainian billionaire Kolomoisky. Zelenskiy is from Odessa - a Russian speaking port. He is happy to speak Russian in public which endears him to moderates on the language issue. In the second round Poroshenko's pitch will be about him being an experienced politician. He will paint his opponent as hopelessly inexperienced. Many people voted for Zelenskiy in the first round to protest against the elite. Zelenskiy's appeal as an anti-politician needs to carry him through the second round. Poroshenko is keen to debate him to expose his ineptitude. Zelenskiy has so far refused. A big issue would be which channel the debate would be on because Kolomoisky owns a channel. The second round is on 21 April. It seems like Zelenskiy will win.