Who Will Be The Next Leader of Ukraine?
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She was next in line for president
He plays one on tv.
At first it was hard to tell whether the clip was serious. Standing next to a Christmas tree, Volodymyr Zelensky, one of the most famous comedians in Ukraine, posted a video on New Year’s Eve announcing his bid for the presidency.
It certainly feels that way to Zelensky’s rivals. “It’s not just Ukraine. This is a trend all over the world,” says Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Prime Minister who is now polling in second place. “It’s the total degeneration of representative democracy.” With the right spin machine and enough money to manipulate voters on social media, she says, “You could make a Senator out of a horse.” Or a President out of a comic.
The battle for the presidency once looked like an easy win for Ukraine’s most powerful woman. Tymoshenko was leading in the polls last year because no other candidate could claim her credentials: two terms as Prime Minister, two campaigns for the presidency, two years behind bars as a prisoner of conscience and two popular uprisings that saw protesters carry her portrait like a talisman against corruption.
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