Comedian wins Ukraine Presidential Election

Comedian Zelensky celebrates win over Poroshenko in Ukraine presidential vote

Ukrainian comic Volodymyr Zelensky is set to win the presidency in a landslide victory over incumbent leader, Petro Poroshenko, exit polls show. Zelensky has already been visited by police over violating one election law.

The high turnout in the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine reveals an enthusiasm for the promise of change brought by Zelensky. He’s leading with some 72-74 percent of the votes, according to the latest exit poll figures. Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko secured only around 25-28 percent of votes, suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Zelensky.

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This has the potential of cooling tensions with Russia

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wendy davis's picture

(so to speak, pun intended). also on RT:

Bringing the civil war in eastern Ukraine to an end appears to be one of the top priorities for Zelensky. Promising to announce some kind of a plan shortly, he asked the reporters for help in the upcoming “infowar” that he says would help end the conflict, which, since 2014, has been raging between Kiev’s troops and the rebel self-proclaimed republics.

He then vowed to “act within the Normandy format,” referring to the French-German-Russian-Ukrainian talks on war in Donbass, saying that “we will continue the Minsk process, we will restart it.”

what does that mean: 'normandy format'? guesses? or should it be clear to me? never said how many neo-nazis he'll have in his gummit./s

i know you'd included a very different atlantic council op-ed in your 'nato loses' post, gjonsit, but in mine, i'd featured one that endorsed zelinskyi, but anyhoo:

i'm sure jen's hoping he can clean up corruption enough that all the loans the IMF had given ukraine weren't pissed away, and soon the ukies will be able to pony up their dues (2% GDP is it?)to join at a real nato nation. gotta trounce those evil russians!

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

after that $5 billion investment she made to get Porshenko installed as president. The m betting that there are lots of people in DC who never saw that coming and are working hard to find out how to keep their fingers in the pie. Restarting the Minsk agreement is just one of the things that needs to happen. It's going to be interesting to see how he deals with those pesky neo Nazis and the role that Russia plays going forward.

If his win does tamp down Ukraine's hostility against Russia then maybe there's a chance for peace to happen. The media never mentions how bad things are in Ukraine after Obama's coup.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

wendy davis's picture

@wendy davis .it wasn't vickie's $5 billion bucks. ; )

also remember that pierre omidyar was also heavily invested in the putsch, but he always comes out with profits no matter what. when your god is Mammon, it's always profit and pragmatism, given: No Principles Need Apply for Headroom Space.

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Lookout's picture

...is a politician who works to eliminate corruption. Our luck electing a TV personality hasn't worked out too well, but theirs may. Glad the US backed puppet lost. Israel and US still selling arms there. Fulfilling our mission to sow war and discord.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Azazello's picture

Ukraine About to Be Cut Out! Nord Stream 2 Will Finally Bring Reliable Gas Deliveries to Germany
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z66SYWhDW3A width:500 height:300]
Tit For Tat Sanctions on Ukraine! Russia Bans Imports of Products As Well As Exports of Energy!
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0QCW2azSvY width:500 height:300]

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

snoopydawg's picture

I hadn't paid much attention to this election, but it's interesting that the US backed president lost to a comedian who had no history in politics. Here's the saker's report on the election, but before the outcome was known.

Furthermore, Zelenskii is Kolomoiskii’s puppet, and the latter is both VERY evil and VERY smart. A most dangerous opponent for Russia. And then, we can be sure the the Zelenskii-Kolomoiskii duo will have the full support of the Zionists (thanks to Kolomoiskii’s very close ties to Israel).

So while many in the Ukraine and Russia understandably hate Poroshenko with all their souls, I am not at all so sure that Zelenskii will be better for the Ukraine or for Russia. Somewhere, Poro would definitely be easier to handle.

This being said, I also understand that for the people of the Ukraine there is only one way to express their hatred and contempt for that Uber-loser Poroshenko. Voting Zelenskii in the presidential election followed by a vote for pro-Zelenskii parties in the Rada might be just what is needed to begin jailing various Nazis and other nutcases (I don’t expect either Zelenskii or Kolomoiskii to have any patience with the Ukronazis, especially now that they have become a much bigger problem for the Ukraine than they have ever been for Russia).

As I said before, choosing between Zelenskii and Poro is about as meaningful as choosing between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. Having said that, Poro is the weaker, dumber, more isolated and more inept of the two, so he is probably a lesser evil for Russia.

What about the Donbass and the DNR/LNR People’s Republics – what outcome is better for them? For the same reasons, I think that Poroshenko is probably the lesser evil for the Novorussians. Again, Poro and Zelenskii are both equally bad and even evil (Zelenskii has openly supported the Nazi death-squads and called the Novorussians “scum” – so have NO illusions on this account!) but Zelenskii and his backers are the more dangerous and sophisticated actors. The truth is that the Novorussians must first and foremost count on their own courage and military acumen, then they can count on Russia not only to stop any (theoretically possible) Ukronazi offensive, but also to keep these two republics alive economically and politically. Russia has done a lot, but not nearly enough and much more aid (both military and civilian) is needed by the suffering people of the Donbass.

....
If Zelenskii gets elected, one of two things will happen:

Option A: Zelenskii will rapidly and energetically resume all the rabid russophobic policies of his predecessor. The topics of the Donbass and Crimea will be front and center of Ukie propaganda. At this point, Russia might as well recognize the outcome of the election (I don’t see a point in pretending that Zelenskii did not “kinda” get a popular mandate) and, in the same breath, recognize the two Novorussian Republics and let them conduct a referendum on their future.

Option B: Zelenskii will rapidly and energetically try to stop (or, at least, “freeze”) the conflict with Russia and with the Donbass. If he does that, the Kremlin will see that Zelenskii is trying to cut his losses and gain political credibility by stopping the war in the Donbass and the (utterly stupid and self-defeating) confrontation with Russia. At this point, Russia is likely not only to recognize the outcome of the election, but also serve as a mediator between the Novorussians and the Zelenskii government in Kiev to offer some kind of compromise centered around a de facto independence of the two republics combined with some kind of de jure (only!) Ukrainian sovereignty over these republics, even if only symbolical.

At least so far, all the signs are that Zelenskii will go with Option A and resume Poro’s antirussian policies which, considering that Zelenskii is a puppet of Kolomoiskii, who himself is a puppet of the AngloZionist Empire (with, in his case, the stress of the “Zionist” part of the name) certainly makes sense.
.....
Last minute updates:

Thursday April 18th: Poroshenko recorded an address to the Ukrainian people in which he 1) apologizes for this mistakes and 2) blames all his mistakes on Putin. Go figure Ukronazi “logic”….

Thursday April 18th: Zelenskii did end up giving one real interview, in which he said that Putin was an enemy and that the Donbass should not have any special status. He also said that the fact that Stepan Bandera is a hero for many Ukrainians is “awesome/cool” (класно). Having a Russian-speaking Jew say this about a guy who pledged allegiance to Hitler and who massacred scores of Jews is rather amazing, especially on the eve of the Jewish Passover is quite a sight. But then again, the Nazi-occupied Ukraine is the kind of Banderastan were you find Nazis and Jews happily joining forces against their common foe: Russia in general and Orthodox Russia especially. So forget the (comparatively nicer looking) Zelenskii and think Kolomoiskii. In other words, lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate…

This is an interesting word don't you think? Ukronazi. Stepan Bandera and his gang of neo Nazis are from the same sect as Hitler was and they have gotten out of control of those who helped them rise to power: the Atlantic Council, McCain, Biden, Mrs. Victoria Nuland Kagan whose husband helped write PNAC whose goals were to turn the Middle East into utter chaos. So it's looking like even though the song has changed the same dance will continue in Ukraine. But hey, maybe the new president will at least make people laugh...

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

wendy davis's picture

few things from the saker, but i'd meant to bring wsws's take on it it. Jason Melanovski, 22 April 2019, and he does reference what's likely the same interview:

"He won much of his support by criticizing the blatant corruption of the Poroshenko regime and by making fraudulent promises to end the war in Donbass, negotiate directly with Putin and work to prevent a full-scale war with Russia. However, in an interview with RBK Ukraine given shortly before Sunday’s election, Zelenskiy called Russia an “aggressor” in Donbass and Putin an “enemy.” He expressed his support for the banning of Russian-language press and artists, and called World War II Ukrainian war criminal Stepan Bandera, who worked with the Nazis to persecute the Jews, a “hero,” who “defended the freedom of Ukraine.”

He proclaimed that he did not plan to deviate from the proposed entry of Ukraine into NATO and promised to hold a referendum on the issue, pledging to “win over” skeptical Ukrainians in the east of the country. Zelensky is also a long-standing supporter of Ukrainian membership in the European Union. The entry of Ukraine into both the EU and NATO would signify a major provocation and escalation of tensions with Russia."

as well as the nature of his economic team, continuing IMF loans, yada yada. but there we have it: banderists will be in his cabinet, aka: neo-nazis. kinda funny to me that yulia tanked so early though.... but yep, more rumbles in the rada ahead, more torchlight parades.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

...for Ukraine.

Then, I wondered... What if there was a law that no politician could run for president in the US? That branch of government was devoted to the People and to their natural ideals.

What if all Presidential candidates had to be purely "of the People" and could not belong to a political Party? They could also form an advisory People's Council from among the best minds and entertainers and cultural figures in America, as long as they were not involved in professional politics or professional religion.

The President would provide citizen oversight and report to the People.

Could it be any worse than the system we do have? Seems to me, a lot of movies that are made about Presidents follow a similar storyline. "Dave" was one of my favorites. And "Bulworth" too.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato