For now it seems that the uncontested favorite of the presidential election in Ukraine is Petro Poroshenko, a millionaire and industrialist.
Poroshenko used to be close to the ousted corrupt President Yanukovich. He is also in favor of re-establishing a dialogue with Russia and avoiding an approximation with Europe (he doesn’t support the idea of seeking NATO membership, for instance, which will make Putin happy).
None of these things would bother me because a politician who’s to lead Ukraine needs to look for ways of pacifying Russia, that’s just reality.
However, there is something about Poroshenko that disturbs me a lot. On paper, he sounds perfectly fine, but then I watched several interviews and debates where he appeared and what I saw doesn’t bode well for Ukraine. Psychophysically, Poroshenko is a person from “back in USSR.” He speaks, moves, entones, explains himself, and inflects his sentences exactly like a soporific Soviet apparatchik from 1981.
This isn’t good because rigidity and hearkening back to the Soviet past are the last things Ukraine needs. Poroshenko is very young (he’s 48), but he looks like he stood next to Brezhnev on the Red Square back in the 1970s.
There doesn’t seem to be any likelihood of Poroshenko losing the election because se is said to have the support of 53% of Ukrainians, while the next most popular contender has 7%. Of course, polls coming out of Ukraine can never be trusted completely but, for now, this is where things stand.
Clarissa's Blog 
Do you think older people vote for him also because he seems familiar, a person from a past? Or everybody supports him for some other reason? Why, for instance, the female candidate from jail isn’t more popular?
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Yulia was in power for a long time, and people don’t associate anything good with those times. Many see her as part of the corrupt establishment. And they are not mistaken.
The problem is, who isn’t corrupt? A friend of the family from Kharkov who is legendary for her bribe-giving among friends exclaims, “But when will THEY finally vanquish corruption?” and gets annoyed when it is suggested to her that maybe she should stop participating in corruption.
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I think you are being harsh on the man.
If Ukraine is able to be managed by him, as Roshen was, then I believe the outlook is good.
Staying six months in Kyiv last year gave me a feel for the country and people, his sweet/candy stores shone out in the sea of mediocrity/apathy.
Hopefully the electorate of Ukraine will be rewarded by their choice.
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“Staying six months in Kyiv last year gave me a feel for the country and people, his sweet/candy stores shone out in the sea of mediocrity/apathy.”
– I’m very, very happy to hear this.
Thank you for this comment. I want to be optimistic about this election!
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