The recent opinion piece “Why the West loves Poroshenko again” (March 8) is disappointingly one-sided. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is not the “last hope” for Ukraine’s future. If other candidates win, the country will not necessarily fall prey to the influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
If Poroshenko — who projects himself as the only leader who can stand up to Russia — wins, Ukraine’s problems will not go away. The level of public — not to mention foreign — mistrust of Poroshenko and discontent with his presidency is too high.
His campaign’s appeals to patriotism will only deepen social, political and regional divisions. Another term of Poroshenko will perpetuate the oligarchic system he has overseen over the past years, and which has entrenched economic stagnation.
Moreover, it’s far from a foregone conclusion he will land another term as president.
Three weeks before the March 31 vote, a total newcomer, actor Vladimir Zelenskiy, is leading the polls. Why? Because a vote for him has come to represent a rejection of Poroshenko, whom people see as having failed to deliver systemic reform, openness, accountability and fair play. And it’s no wonder: He’s alleged to be involved in a major corruption scheme involving the defense sector, and his so-called crackdown on corruption has been half-hearted.
Presidential candidate Vladimir Zelenskiy on the campaign trail last month | Pavlo Palamarchuk EFE/PAVLO via EPA
Whoever wins the presidential election will still have to secure sufficient support in the parliamentary election in October to make sure they don’t become a lame duck president.
As things stand, Zelenskiy could well become a ceremonial president with presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister. This would create new problems, to be sure. But it would also bring about new opportunities for Ukraine — and for the West’s relations with it.
Tymoshenko unambivalently supports NATO; she is pro-EU and anti-Putin. Lest we forget, her former chief aide, Oleksandr Turchynov, has been running Poroshenko’s National Security and Defense Council. If she did try to sell out, a new Maidan protest would sweep her and her allies away.
Bohdan Nahaylo
British journalist and historian
Kiev, Ukraine