Zelenskiy takes the first round

With a majority of the votes counted, Zelenskiy has taken more than 30% of the vote on the first round. Poroshenko is following in second place with about 18%. Tymoshenko is out with 13%.

So it's as I expected, since no one took more than 50% of the vote, Zelenskiy and Poroshenko will face off in a runoff on April 21. Slava Ukraini!

The New York Times has an analysis here.

People have been saying "Only in Ukraine." But that's not true. Remember, the US had Ronald Reagan, a B-class movie actor. And California had the Governator. Now the US has a reality TV show star as President. Name recognition counts. And Zelenskiy has been role playing for some time now. That might make him the most qualified on the issues that count to the people. Let's watch what happens.

Elections in Ukraine

What do a chocolate magnate, an energy tycoon later jailed on corruption charges, and a TV comedian have in common? They are all running in Ukraine's presidential election today.

Zelensky casting his ballot

That may sound like a joke, but it's serious business for a country at war with Russia. They are the three lead candidates for the job: the incumbent, a former Prime Minister, and a comedian playing the President in a television series. If there is no outright majority winner, the top two candidates will duke it out in a second election on April 21. The incumbent, Petro Poroshenko's approval rating has gained some ground recently but the comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky may score 26.6% of the vote according to one poll. 

Zelensky is the star of 'Слуга Народу,' or Servant of the People, a Ukrainian television series carried on Netflix. He has high recognition and his name is a household word. In the made-for-TV series, Zelensky plays a schoolteacher who unexpectedly becomes President of Ukraine after becoming famous for an anti-corruption rant that goes viral on social media. Servant of the People is, in essence, a campaign advertisement for Zelensky. A new episode aired just days before the election. In reality, he's a political newcomer with no real platform or experience. They say that comedians are highly intelligent people. Let's see how long he can stand up to the pressures of facing down Putin. 

The third candidate is former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The most recent Rating Group Ukraine poll* showed Tymoshenko running neck and neck with Poroshenko, each with support from about 17% of likely voters. Tymoshenko was the head of an energy company in the 1990s, became Prime Minister twice, and was later jailed over a natural gas agreement that she signed with Russia. She is widely believed to be corrupt among the Ukrainians and the victim of political retribution by others. 

Personally, I have liked Poroshenko. He's been in a tough place. He lost Crimea and Donbas on his watch. But he got Ukraine through the separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church, possibly halted the complete invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and managed to get the EU and NATO to consider Ukraine's position in Europe. Given that he is fighting off Putin, it's not difficult to understand why it would be hard to get a really high approval rating. 

I am suspect of Tymoshenko and I don't know Zelensky. Looks like I'll have to watch Netflix tonight.

*МОНІТОРИНГ ЕЛЕКТОРАЛЬНИХ НАСТРОЇВ УКРАЇНЦІВ (22-27 БЕРЕЗНЯ 2019 РОКУ)

Дата публікації: 28.03.2019

http://ratinggroup.ua/research/ukraine/monitoring_elektoralnyh_nastroeniy_ukraincev_22-27_marta_2019_goda.html

Ukraine's Elections Are Very Promising

Exit polls show a distinctly pro-EU margin

The Rada exit poll results are in, and they are vastly different from the 2012 elections, in which the old regime parties (Party of Regions, Fatherland, UDAR, the Communist Party, and Svoboda) took the lead.  For the first time since independence, there are likely to be no Communists in the parliament. President Petro Poroshenko's Bloc party (23%) and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk's People's Front party (21.3%) are way in the lead, indicating that the work they have begun is likely to continue.

In fact, pro-EU parties are dominating the results according to Reuters. This is a most hopeful sign that corruption will be fought successfully and Ukraine will move on to a new era of freedom, peace and prosperity.  It will be days before all the votes are counted, the so-called separatists are still planning to hold their own elections in November, and, of course, it remains to be seen what Putin will do, but this first step is promising.  

It will not be easy, and they have an uphill battle ahead of them, but they also have much to fight for. And that perhaps is the difference this time. If they have to fight, they have the potential to win. Let's all stand behind them and press on.  

Making headway

Ukrainians regaining control of Ukraine

Little by little, Ukrainians are regaining control of Ukraine. President Poroshenko, noting that the insurgents had not abided by the peace agreement, chose to give the military the command to take action.  In a few short days, they had retaken a checkpoint at an important border crossing with Russia, one that Western allies claimed allowed Russian military personnel, arms and even tanks to enter Ukraine illegally.