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Ukrainian presidential candidate, Volodymyr Zelensky seen surrounded by the media during the blood test for the content in the body of alcohol and drugs.
A comedian-turned-politician is a strong favorite to win Ukraine’s presidential election run-off vote this coming Sunday, despite little being known about his political policies and plans.
That doesn’t seem to have deterred voters so far with Volodymyr Zelensky winning the most votes (30.2%) in the first round of the election compared to his rival, veteran politician and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who got 16% of the vote.
One poll of just over 2,000 Ukrainians by the Kiev-based International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), published Tuesday, said that 48.4% support Zelensky and 17% back Poroshenko while 17.9% remain undecided. Others intended to spoil their ballot paper, didn’t intend to vote or refused to name their favorite.
Zelenksy might be a political novice but he’s no stranger to the public, having played the role of an ordinary guy that becomes Ukrainian president in a hit TV show called “Servant of the People.”
He polls highly in terms of positive public perception, the KIIS survey showed, with 53.7% of respondents holding a positive attitude towards him, compared to 18.1% for Poroshenko.
After turning to politics in the real world, Zelensky (like his TV character) posited himself as an anti-graft candidate fighting for change in a country dogged by corruption and economic instability.
But critics say that we know little else about his plans for Ukraine if, as expected, he wins the run-off vote on April 21.