Ukrainian Actor Parlays TV Role as President into Electoral Victory

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April 21, 2019

Life has imitated art, as an actor who plays the Ukrainian president on TV has been elected Ukraine's President.

Volodomyr Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky has declared victory over the incumbent, Petro Poroshenko, after exit polls showed a wide disparity between the vote totals for the two candidates: Zelensky won 73 percent of the vote, and Poroshenko got 25 percent. It was the second round of elections. The first, which featured 38 candidates, resulted in no one candidate receiving a majority of the vote. Zelensky, with 30 percent, and Poroshenko, with 16 percent, were the top two vote-getters.

Poroshenko made headlines recently by showing up to a two-man debate that Zelensky refused to attend; Poroshenko criticized his rival and then answered questions for the audience. After 45 minutes, he left the stage. The two candidates did eventually have a televised debate, just hours before the election.

Many of those who voted for Zelensky expressed frustration with the current state of affairs, from the growing influence of neighboring Russia in Ukrainian daily life to the ongoing civil war in the eastern part of the country, which has killed 13,000 people in the past five years. The Maidan protests in 2014 resulted in the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich, but the later election of Poroshenko did little to change the perception of corruption that surrounded Vanukovich or to stem the tide of violence that resulted from the protests.

Poroshenko was elected to a five-year term in 2014, after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych during what has teen termed the Ukrainian Revolution. An experienced statesman, Poroshenko was previously Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Trade and Economic Development. He has been embroiled in political controversies of late.

Zelensky is a political novice who is perhaps most well-known for his role as the Ukrainian president in the TV show Servant of the People. The main character, Vasyl Holoborodko, begins as a schoolteacher with no political experience but emerges as a strong national leader. The show has been on the air for nearly four years and routinely garners an audience of half of the country's population of 42 million. He has also starred in movies, including the Russian-language hit Love in the Big City.

The Ukrainian economy has not been the best lately, and the government has accepted billions of dollars in loans from the International Monetary Fund. Zelensky has promised that his government will not default on those loans. He has offered few other specifics, preferring to let his fictional image do the talking.

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David White

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2024
David White