Comedian front-runner in Ukrainian Elections

[Eldorado]

"Polls have opened in Ukraine as the country votes in the first round of presidential elections.

Current leader Petro Poroshenko is seeking re-election but the surprise front-runner is comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Both candidates, along with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, have expressed largely pro-European views during campaigning.

None of the pro-Russian candidates are seen as serious contenders."

Full report at the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47763176

"The top three contenders in Ukraine’s presidential elections cast their vote on Sunday in a first round which a comedian - who happens to play a fictional president in a popular TV series - is tipped to win."

At Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-election/comedian-in-front-as-curtain-rises-on-ukrainian-presidential-election-idUSKCN1RC043

[itsnotoutthere]

That's nothing, we've had a comedian as prime minister for years now.

[Coil]

22 hours ago, Eldorado said:

Current leader Petro Poroshenko is seeking re-election but the surprise front-runner is comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Showman Zelensky got such a big lead over the current president Poroshenko because people for 5 years were very disappointed with him and other politicians also therefore decided to bet on a person not from politics what Zelensky became who criticized power in his TV shows. Therefore, this vote is very characteristic that people are very disappointed with politicians from the authorities and people forced to vote for a completely different candidate.

At the moment, among our politicians there are no real reformers who can develop Ukraine economically. I also voted for Zelensky, my mother and my friends.

Results at this point in time
https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vp2019/wp300pt001f01=719.html

Zelensky - 30.40

Poroshenko -16.13

 

[Eldorado]

Here's a Ukrainian news site in English, for those following the Election.

"Zelensky remains frontrunner as over 80% of votes processed."

At Unian dot info: https://www.unian.info/politics

[Coil]

During the elections in the Ukrainian forums there is a fierce struggle between Poroshenkо's supporters and opponents. And now seeing that Poroshenko is losing some of the paid bloggers say that all those who did not vote for Poroshenko are traitors and they need to be shot, which caused a violent protest among the people. Zelenskiy himself simply congratulated everyone who came to the polls and asked if he would cooperate with Tymoshenko that he would like her people to vote for him but he does not want to cooperate with her if he becomes president. South of Ukraine (the poorest regions) voted for Zelenskiy and for Poroshenko, the west of the country who hates Putin and who believe that Poroshenko is the only defense of the country.
Under Poroshenko, our currency has fallen three times, utility rates have increased 5 times and people's incomes have fallen a lot, and pensioners cannot live on retirement because the gas tariff is so high that the pension is not enough for the heating season and 8 million people received a subsidy. More than 3 million young people went abroad to earn money because they do not want to work in Ukraine for pennies and there is a shortage of labor in the country but even there they work 12 hours a day, sending money to their homeland who still have families and children in Ukraine. The Donbass and the Crimea are occupied by the Russians and our troops are holding back the enemy on the border of separation and this is a bleeding wound for our country.
 We have reached an extreme point and the question was whether this situation will continue for the next 5 years or will we change something in the country and put a new president since Poroshenko increased his income 100 times during the reign (owner of more than 100 enterprises). Corruption during his presidency has increased many times, no one from the authorities is called to account for crimes, his people are everywhere in all posts, and his officials write out salaries and bonuses of several million dollars while the people are denying themselves the most necessary things. And we from a rich country after gaining independence in 1991 (the economy at the level of France) reached the level of backward countries like Honduras. Last year, one womаn activist was poured with sulfuric acid for her opposition to corruption and after numerous operations she died in the hospital and the main suspect was released on bail and this became a feature of the current president to take money and let the murderers and corrupt officials to leave. Before the election, Poroshenko paid retirees at the expense of the state, large sums of money hoping that they will vote for him since they suffered the most during his rule, therefore his gesture can be called a vote-buying and he plans to make one more payment before the second round. At the same time he took the money from car owners who cleared old cars from Europe (a car costs 2-3 thousand euros and a tax on such cars is 1-2 thousand euros depending on the age- the older the higher the tax)

I told you so that you could see how deplorable the situation was in Ukraine.

[aztek]

he  made his career on making fun of politicians and showing how corrupt\useless they are, will see what he will become, imo more than likely he will become exactly the same as those he made fun of.

[Coil]

10 hours ago, aztek said:

he  made his career on making fun of politicians and showing how corrupt\useless they are, will see what he will become, imo more than likely he will become exactly the same as those he made fun of.

He is a positive person and earned his capital honestly and not taken away from others or grabbed it therefore he cannot be like our politicians.

 

Zelenskiy's electorate is also positive, while Poroshenko’s supporters hate everyone who is not with them and consider us enemies and this angered users when they are humiliated and called enemies. If you were in the Ukrainian forum, you would meet with such personalities as their words are not moderated and you can write anything to insult people openly and this is a feature of  poroshenko-bots  insult everyone who is not with them.They take over the traits of their leader and if he is a scum then these too look like him.

 

Once, one excavator worker worked at Poroshenko^s  home and walked through his territory, evaluating where it was better to do his job, so Poroshenko came and said “what does this cattle do here”? So, for him, people are trash and he does not consider them people. Although he appeals to the same people to vote for him in the elections.

 

[bmk1245]

39 minutes ago, Coil said:

He is a positive person and earned his capital honestly and not taken away from others or grabbed it therefore he cannot be like our politicians.

 

Zelenskiy's electorate is also positive, while Poroshenko’s supporters hate everyone who is not with them and consider us enemies and this angered users when they are humiliated and called enemies. If you were in the Ukrainian forum, you would meet with such personalities as their words are not moderated and you can write anything to insult people openly and this is a feature of  poroshenko-bots  insult everyone who is not with them.They take over the traits of their leader and if he is a scum then these too look like him.

 

Once, one excavator worker worked at Poroshenko^s  home and walked through his territory, evaluating where it was better to do his job, so Poroshenko came and said “what does this cattle do here”? So, for him, people are trash and he does not consider them people. Although he appeals to the same people to vote for him in the elections.

 

You forgot to mention that Poroshenko crucifies little boys, drinks blood of newborns, and eats bullfinches on breakfast...

In case you missed, Zelenskyi is just a sock puppet of Kolomyskyi, oligarch who has as many corpses in his closet as Poroshenko has, if not more.

Even more, Ze threatens his critics, despite his own words "Post fakes/jokes about me"...

[Coil]

48 minutes ago, bmk1245 said:

You forgot to mention that Poroshenko crucifies little boys, drinks blood of newborns, and eats bullfinches on breakfast...

In case you missed, Zelenskyi is just a sock puppet of Kolomyskyi, oligarch who has as many corpses in his closet as Poroshenko has, if not more.

Even more, Ze threatens his critics, despite his own words "Post fakes/jokes about me"...

I know about the case of Kolomoisky and how he bankrupted Privatbank but in this case the Ukrainians choose the lesser evil, therefore they vote for Zelenskiy.
Surprisingly, Kolomoisky easily went abroad and Poroshenko did nothing to detain him. It seems that they have an agreement between themselves.

[bee]

political outsider..... victim of Fake News...... sounds familiar  

This must be the rise of Populism in the Ukraine.......

 

https://www.voanews.com/a/ukraine-set-for-final-campaigns-in-zelenskiy-poroshenko-runoff/4857221.html

 

"This is only the first step toward a great victory," Zelenskiy told supporters and media gathered Sunday night in Kyiv. "We don't care who we compete with in the second round. I've already been told that some fake news has been going around claiming we were trying to make some deals with someone. But we aren't making any deals with anyone. We are young people. We don't want to see all the past in our future, the future of our country," he added.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zelenskiy's appeal is his novelty as a political outsider.......

[aztek]

6 hours ago, Coil said:

He is a positive person and earned his capital honestly and not taken away from others or grabbed it therefore he cannot be like our politicians.

 

Zelenskiy's electorate is also positive, while Poroshenko’s supporters hate everyone who is not with them and consider us enemies and this angered users when they are humiliated and called enemies. If you were in the Ukrainian forum, you would meet with such personalities as their words are not moderated and you can write anything to insult people openly and this is a feature of  poroshenko-bots  insult everyone who is not with them.They take over the traits of their leader and if he is a scum then these too look like him.

 

Once, one excavator worker worked at Poroshenko^s  home and walked through his territory, evaluating where it was better to do his job, so Poroshenko came and said “what does this cattle do here”? So, for him, people are trash and he does not consider them people. Although he appeals to the same people to vote for him in the elections.

 

and yet it remains to be seen if the clown becomes an object of his own jokes, i think the answer is pretty clear.

i remember seeing him talking down to reporters, when they stopped him on the street to ask a question, and that was right after he announced his presidency.  "why are you chasing me on the streets, make an appointment"  a person of people my a$$

[Coil]

2 hours ago, aztek said:

and yet it remains to be seen if the clown becomes an object of his own jokes, i think the answer is pretty clear.

i remember seeing him talking down to reporters, when they stopped him on the street to ask a question, and that was right after he announced his presidency.  "why are you chasing me on the streets, make an appointment"  a person of people my a$$

When you are pursued by journalists, it can be unpleasant. I think so far Zelenskiy has not done anything that could have been laughed but the American president looked ridiculous with a piece of paper on his shoes.

Some do not like Zelenskiy but in reality fate laughed at Poroshenko as he mocked Ukrainians for 5 years of rule and now he meets his reflection with which he will fight in elections. And this reflection is much more pleasant in nature than the great corrupt official Poroshenko .

[aztek]

5 minutes ago, Coil said:

When you are pursued by journalists, it can be unpleasant. I think so far Zelenskiy has not done anything that could have been laughed but the American president looked ridiculous with a piece of paper on his shoes.

Some do not like Zelenskiy but in reality fate laughed at Poroshenko as he mocked Ukrainians for 5 years of rule and now he meets his reflection with which he will fight in elections. And this reflection is much more pleasant in nature than the great corrupt official Poroshenko .

you sound like a bot. or a shill,  i never actually compared him to poroshenko, yet all you do is telling me how bad he is.  

[Coil]

1 minute ago, aztek said:

you sound like a bot. or a shill,  i never actually compared him to poroshenko, yet all you do is telling me how bad he is.  

I forgot to write that people actually vote not for the fact that Zelensky criticizes the president but because people OPPOSE the current president and his regime who brought the country to lawlessness and economic decline. Therefore, some bloggers write that even a cat could win this election if it had been promoted because Poroshenko had already gotten everyone and even the military had voted for Zelenskiy in the hope of a better life because Ukrainians choose development and hope for changes and not stagnation for the next 5 years.

 

[aztek]

25 minutes ago, Coil said:

I forgot to write that people actually vote not for the fact that Zelensky criticizes the president but because people OPPOSE the current president and his regime who brought the country to lawlessness and economic decline. Therefore, some bloggers write that even a cat could win this election if it had been promoted because Poroshenko had already gotten everyone and even the military had voted for Zelenskiy in the hope of a better life because Ukrainians choose development and hope for changes and not stagnation for the next 5 years.

you really think 1 person can change decades old corrupt political machine, that involves thousands of people, and billions of dollars??  lol, well, i'll believe it when i see it. but what i will most likely see, is zelenskij becoming one of them, doing the same thing as poroshenko, and in 5 years you will be saying the same things about zelenskij as you saying now about poroshenko,  you may change a president but entire corrupt rada is still the same,as pre maidan. and they are not going anywhere, you did not really need to replace just yanukovich, you should have replaced every one else in gvmnt.  but it's your country, so good luck to you.

btw , does he fall under his own #ідітьусраку?  he started it after a one your officials refused to talk to press, and now he himself did the same, so is he going the same place? does your excuse 

Quote

When you are pursued by journalists, it can be unpleasant. 

work for that guy, or just zelenski?

Edited April 2, 2019 by aztek

[Coil]

1 hour ago, aztek said:

you really think 1 person can change decades old corrupt political machine, that involves thousands of people, and billions of dollars??  lol, well, i'll believe it when i see it. but what i will most likely see, is zelenskij becoming one of them, doing the same thing as poroshenko, and in 5 years you will be saying the same things about zelenskij as you saying now about poroshenko,  you may change a president but entire corrupt rada is still the same,as pre maidan. and they are not going anywhere, you did not really need to replace just yanukovich, you should have replaced every one else in gvmnt.  but it's your country, so good luck to you.

You do not need to take it so close to your heart, and if he is bad, people will also expell him as well as previous presidents.

As for Yanukovych, there was a coup and we really lost more than we got and I agree with you, but Ukraine’s Supersoul has its own position on how to develop the country and if there is a revolution, we can get out of it somehow.

In any case, it is necessary to change something, and so we have gone to extremes, and there is nowhere to fall further. Some liberation from the current president and his policy should take place.

Quote

btw , does he fall under his own #ідітьусраку?  he started it after a one your officials refused to talk to press, and now he himself did the same, so is he going the same place? does your excuse 

One journalist wanted to interview the deputy of Barna (who distinguished himself by taking the former prime minister’s legs and taking him out of the stands and also likes to take bribes and vote for the necessary law and even interrupted his rest just to work off the money) and so, this deputy sent  the fu** to a journalist and since Zelensky still belongs to the media structures, he launched a "kiss my ass" flashmob in response to the boorish behavior of the deputy.

 

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-TxM-YtEfY

 

[aztek]

7 minutes ago, Coil said:

One journalist wanted to interview the deputy of Barna (who distinguished himself by taking the former prime minister’s legs and taking him out of the stands and also likes to take bribes and vote for the necessary law and even interrupted his rest just to work off the money) and so, this deputy sent  the fu** to a journalist and since Zelensky still belongs to the media structures, he launched a "kiss my ass" flashmob in response to the boorish behavior of the deputy.

 

 

yes i've seen the video, i'm no fan of Barna,  did not even know he existed before this, but it is not about him anymore,  it's about zelenski who did the same to reporters on the street,  granted not as rude, but still he told them off. i mean if you started such campaign, at least do not act in the same way towards reporters, no?  i've also seen a video of him shooting the rada, lol, funny, 

i have been to kiev before fist orange revolution, when grivna was 5usd.  i've also been to Moscow, st petersburg, odessa,  

[Coil]

46 minutes ago, aztek said:

yes i've seen the video, i'm no fan of Barna,  did not even know he existed before this, but it is not about him anymore,  it's about zelenski who did the same to reporters on the street,  granted not as rude, but still he told them off. i mean if you started such campaign, at least do not act in the same way towards reporters, no?  i've also seen a video of him shooting the rada, lol, funny, 

Well, if he does this, I do not approve of such behavior .. actually, I don’t follow the words of Zelenskiy and his jokes in TV shows I don’t like, I watch more Russian KVN and you even know more about him than me. For me, Zelensky is a strong pawn figure that can knock down the queen, so I support such a candidate only because he can knock Poroshenko out of the presidential chair. But if Tymoshenko had come to the second round, I would have crossed the bulletin as I had fought against her in past time but she is a living political figure.

Quote

i have been to kiev before fist orange revolution, when grivna was 5usd.  i've also been to Moscow, st petersburg, odessa,  

Oh, those were the happy times of Ukraine ..
During the first revolution I was in Kiev and worked there temporarily at an enterprise, therefore I saw how the revolution began.

 

[Coil]

The leader of one of the radical organizations Dmitry Korchinskiy and his friend threaten terror to those who vote for Zelensky.

The literal translation of his words:

Everyone around can find those people who voted for Zelenskiy to take them by the throat and with the help of a baseball bat, a hot iron and a soldering iron or money to convince them that they should go to the polls and vote for Poroshenko. Or after we will have to work as terrorists but it’s better to work as populists, we will convince them, so that after, we don't have to kill them.

You can look at this person:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGi9NfAMIcQ

Other news. Poroshenko agreed to a debate with Zelenskiy at the stadium.
It would not have happened that Zelensky was trapped because he doesn’t know much about political issues and also speaks Russian.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Coil

[bmk1245]

On 4/2/2019 at 11:52 AM, Coil said:

I know about the case of Kolomoisky and how he bankrupted Privatbank but in this case the Ukrainians choose the lesser evil, therefore they vote for Zelenskiy.
Surprisingly, Kolomoisky easily went abroad and Poroshenko did nothing to detain him. It seems that they have an agreement between themselves.

I still don't get why you are pushing for Ze? Ze is freakin' zero (nol' bez palochki). He is already turning all this presidential campaign into Kvartal 95. Are you that blind?!

Slava Ukraine! Gerojam slava!

 

[Helen of Annoy]

@bmk1245 Because democracy. They can't allow politicians to act like they forgot people have to eat. 

I really, really didn't like that period in my country when any criticism was seen as lack of patriotism. 

 

Other than that, that guy doesn't seem like particularly fortunate choice, simply because the situation in Ukraine is just too complicated for sudden experiments with a president who is inexperienced in politics or diplomacy. Depends how good team comes with him, of course. But if that's really an amateur attempt, it will take a miracle to not end up in weird way.  

[bmk1245]

26 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

@bmk1245 Because democracy. They can't allow politicians to act like they forgot people have to eat. 

I really, really didn't like that period in my country when any criticism was seen as lack of patriotism. 

 

Other than that, that guy doesn't seem like particularly fortunate choice, simply because the situation in Ukraine is just too complicated for sudden experiments with a president who is inexperienced in politics or diplomacy. Depends how good team comes with him, of course. But if that's really an amateur attempt, it will take a miracle to not end up in weird way.  

Zelenskyi is just a  clown, just proved that by demanding for debates on the stadium!

[Helen of Annoy]

37 minutes ago, bmk1245 said:

Zelenskyi is just a  clown, just proved that by demanding for debates on the stadium!

Relax, why not stadium? Televised from studio or stadium, no real difference. It is a bit theatrical, though. And that is not particularly good sign, but still falls into 'why not' category. 

Much more important is who comes with him and who stands behind him. We know who's behind him, that banker guy, who is in exile, which is another not really promising sign, but then again, there always has to be money behind any candidate and we know idealists and saints are never rich. 

But who he brings? Is there any team known? Because debating is easy, doing stuff is not just hard but impossible if you don't know how. 

[bmk1245]

11 hours ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Relax, why not stadium? Televised from studio or stadium, no real difference. [...] 

HUGE difference. Just think about it: huge crowd of supporters (whether paid or not) from both sides shouting at each other, constant booing when opponent speaks, possible fights...

11 hours ago, Helen of Annoy said:

[...]

Much more important is who comes with him and who stands behind him. We know who's behind him, that banker guy, who is in exile, which is another not really promising sign, but then again, there always has to be money behind any candidate and we know idealists and saints are never rich. 

But who he brings? Is there any team known? Because debating is easy, doing stuff is not just hard but impossible if you don't know how. 

Public secret is that Kolomoiskyi is behind Ze. With Ko in power there is possibility of redistribution of businesses, what is called 'peredel sobstvennosti' (its in russian, funny thing, theres no wiki page about that in English ), may scare investors, and Ukraine economic may stagnate, if not decline.

Kolomoiskyi did great job back in 2014 by stopping 'russian world/russkyi mir' plague from spreading across Ukraine, nevertheless, his business interests may do more harm for Ukraine than good.

[Helen of Annoy]

 

1 hour ago, bmk1245 said:

HUGE difference. Just think about it: huge crowd of supporters (whether paid or not) from both sides shouting at each other, constant booing when opponent speaks, possible fights...

Yeah, it could be intense. But if both candidates are true patriots, they'll manage the audience together. Patriotism first, politics second, therefore, if someone's fighting physically he's no patriot, sit the **** down and let candidates fight verbally. 

What? It's not naive idea, it just takes a little coordination. 

 

1 hour ago, bmk1245 said:

Public secret is that Kolomoiskyi is behind Ze. With Ko in power there is possibility of redistribution of businesses, what is called 'peredel sobstvennosti' (its in russian, funny thing, theres no wiki page about that in English ), may scare investors, and Ukraine economic may stagnate, if not decline.

I understand. But I also was under impression that they really have to do something about their economy. (Just like we have to in my country, there are people, especially young and qualified, running away like the plague has broken out... and we have more resources than we need... *bangs head against the wall*)

 

1 hour ago, bmk1245 said:

Kolomoiskyi did great job back in 2014 by stopping 'russian world/russkyi mir' plague from spreading across Ukraine, nevertheless, his business interests may do more harm for Ukraine than good.

 So, he's not likely to switch sides. Good. Call me a fanatic, but that still is the most important thing.