KYIV SECURITY FORUM

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

UKRAINE ELECTS A NEW PRESIDENT

Ukraine's Presidential Elections: Winners, Losers, Observations

By Orest Deychakiwsky

 

So, after a contentious election campaign, Volodymyr Zelensky has been elected overwhelmingly as Ukraine's sixth president. Most of the Washington policy community - like the vast majority of the Ukrainian diaspora - would have preferred a continuation of the Poroshenko presidency, but the Ukrainian people had other ideas. Whether we like the results or not, these democratic elections reflected the will of the Ukrainian people and it is incumbent upon us to respect that choice. The choice was made by an electorate fed up with the ruling class and hungry for change.

Petro Poroshenko has been a strong president who has led the defense of Ukraine against Russia's aggression, who moved Ukraine closer to the trans-Atlantic community of democratic nations, who undertook many important reforms and who was highly respected as an international partner and statesman. His agenda of "Army! Language! Faith!" - while critically important for Ukraine's future - was not sufficient for most voters to overcome their frustration with living standards and in the failure to root out the scourge of Ukraine's greatest internal enemy, corruption, and ensure the rule of law.

The majority of the populace felt that the pace of change was too slow and the progress that was made was insufficient. Indeed, Mr. Poroshenko was perceived as being part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Some of his associates were far from being paragons of virtue.  Unfortunately, Mr. Poroshenko's wounds were self-inflicted and he seemed to be tone-deaf in some respects.

Notwithstanding his shortcomings, for which he paid a heavy political price, I believe that Mr. Poroshenko has been Ukraine's finest president to date and will be looked upon kindly by history for all that was accomplished under his watch. Moreover, he is still relatively young (53) and may very well still have a political future.

Worries about a Zelensky presidency are legitimate. While saying some things that are encouraging, other things he has said have produced serious apprehension. His unwillingness to meet with the press raise serious questions about his transparency. He has sent mixed messages. He is a relative tabula rasa, a political unknown, many of whose policies are vague or have yet to be fully articulated. And even though he has held Russia responsible for the ongoing war, many fear that his political naivete could be exploited by the evil, but far from stupid, Vladimir Putin. Other concerns range from Mr. Zelensky's seeming disrespect for the country's Ukrainian cultural and linguistic identity to his commitment to combatting corruption and the oligarchy, given his reported links to one of Ukraine's most controversial oligarchs, Ihor Kolomoisky.

On social media and elsewhere, reaction to Mr. Zelensky has reminded me of Yulia Tymoshenko's oft-quoted comment - "propalo vse" ("all is lost"). Although wariness is warranted, a Zelensky presidency will not mean Armageddon. He is not Viktor Yanukovych. Even if one thinks the very worst of him, he faces limitations. After all, Ukraine has a presidential-parliamentary system, so a president does not get everything he wants, especially if he does not control the Parliament or the government. In fact, we may not see all that much happen until the new Verkhovna Rada is elected in October. Even if he is as pro-Russian as some suggest, there are limits in how Moscow-friendly a president (or, for that matter, any leading political leader) can be in a post-Maidan Ukraine ...  CLICK to read more

Why Poroshenko lost

Euromaidan Press, April 27, 2019 

 

The  results of Ukraine's 2019 presidential elections were a devastating blow for incumbent president Petro Poroshenko - not only did he lose to comic Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who has neither political experience nor concrete plans for solving Ukraine's problems, but the comic won in a landslide, 73.22% vs 24.45%. Poroshenko's defeat came as a surprise to many, except those who had been keeping an eye on opinion polls, which showed the politician's high anti-rating already several years ago. Sociologists have  established that nearly half of Zelenskyi's votes were actually votes against Poroshenko, who came to power in snap elections after the Euromaidan revolution in 2014 with significant support in all Ukrainian regions. So, why did Poroshenko lose?

Petro Poroshenko conceded his opponent's victory after the first exit polls were in on 21 April. The incumbent president didn't manage to bridge the gap with his opponent after the  first round of elections on 31 March. Despite his convincing defeat, Poroshenko had a convinced supporter base: the following day after elections, April 22, a spontaneous  "thank you" rally of several thousand voters showed up near the presidential administration. Its participants compelled Poroshenko to run for the presidency again, even "after one year" (to which Poroshenko answered: "if God wills") and thank him for such successes as the visa-free regime, Ukrainian church independence, development of Ukrainian culture, resisting the Russian aggression in the east, and reforms in Ukraine, which, in the words of Kurt Volker, special representative of the USA for Ukraine, exceed those of the last 20 years. Poroshenko's supporters online have now coalesced into a fan-club called "25%," which refers to Poroshenko's exit poll result ...  CLICK to read more  

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Portman Statement on the Presidential Election Results in Ukraine

April 22, 2019 

"I congratulate President-elect Zelenskiy on his victory in Ukraine's presidential election. According to international observers, this election was free, fair, and without serious incident. This reflects the determination of the Ukrainian people to strengthen their democracy and preserve their national identity despite the continued pressure of Russian aggression. I have been proud to work with President Poroshenko to help the country make real progress over the last five years. I look forward to meeting with President-elect Zelenskiy soon and working with him and his administration to build on that progress and further strengthen the bond between our two countries."    CLICK for more 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

Today Petcube is sold at major shopping malls and can be bought at familiar online stores including Brookstone, Amazon and BestBuy. It is a successful and  award-winning product in the US pet care market, which was estimated at $69.5 billion in 2017.  By July 2017, more than  100,000 Petcube  cameras were sold ...  CLICK to read more  

RICHARD LUGAR (1932-2019)

USUF SPRING INTERNS 

Thank You, USUF Spring Semester Interns!

The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF) expresses its deep gratitude to our Spring semester interns - Alida Blendonohy, Morgan Elizabeth Bucholz and Lydia Korostelova (pictured above, R to L) - for their invaluable assistance over the past few months. From covering Ukraine-related activities to conducting research to helping organize and support USUF events, our interns contributed greatly to the work of the Foundation.

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UPCOMING EVENTS