(7 Feb 2019) Volodymyr Zelenskiy has spent more than 20 years as a comedian in Ukraine peppering his stand-up routines with imitations of politicians.
So when his production company needed an actor to play an everyman who unexpectedly becomes president, Zelenskiy was a clear choice.
But in an example of life imitating art, the 41-year-old film and TV star who plays the president in a popular TV series is the leading candidate in Ukraine's upcoming presidential election. It's a role he takes seriously.
"Corruption is everywhere. We need to reduce its impact on the government, on people's lives," Zelenskiy said during an interview with The Associated Press in which he outlined plans to stem a population exodus with higher wages and to bring internet service to small villages.
Zelenskiy argues that his lack of political experience is an advantage in an election climate in which voters have seen their hopes for a better future squashed. He described himself as a "fresh face" and allowed that his participation in the president's race gave some "hype" to Ukrainian politics. He also brushed aside claims that he's controlled by a powerful banker in a tug-of-war with the incumbent president, Petro Poroshenko.
On "Servant of the People", the Ukrainian TV series he has starred in since the fall of 2015, Zelenskiy plays Vasyl Holoborodko, a high school teacher abruptly propelled into the presidency after a student's video of him blasting official corruption goes viral.
The show is full of crude humour and four-letter words, but the inexperienced President Holoborodko is a good leader who honestly tries to serve the people. It's not clear to what extent the popularity of Zelenskiy's campaign is driven by his standing as a celebrity, or a collective longing for a figure like his character in the presidential seat amid strong public fatigue with the current political elite.
In his stand-up routines, Zelenskiy frequently mocks the incumbent. The biting satire has boosted his popularity and irritated the president, who complained to the comic the portrayal was unfair, according to Zelenskiy's own account.
With a laugh, Zelenskiy dismissed both Poroshenko and the other leading candidate, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as a "turned page."
He voiced confidence in his ability to beat either in a runoff election between the top two finishers in the first round of voting.
"People have grown tired of the old guard, so to say," he said.
Recent opinion polls have shown Zelenskiy surging ahead of both Poroshenko and Tymoshenko in the run-up to the March 31 vote.
An election survey by four respected polling agencies in Ukraine had 21.9 percent of respondents supporting Zelenskiy, the most of any candidate. Tymoshenko was the choice of 19.2 percent, and Poroshenko came in third with 14.8 percent. Thirty-four other 34 candidates trailed behind.
The poll of 10,000 registered voters, done in face-to-face interviews, was completed last week and released Monday. It had a margin of error of 1 percentage point.
The comedian's rivals have tried to tarnish his newcomer's shine by pointing at his business ties to an expatriate billionaire banker and alleging that he controls Zelenskiy. The banker, Ihor Kolomoyskiy, left Ukraine following a clash with Poroshenko.
Zelenskiy announced his candidacy on New Year's Eve on the TV channel that aired "Servant of the People" and is owned by Kolomoyskiy's media company. Other stations were broadcasting Poroshenko's New Year's address to the nation at the moment.
"There is nothing to talk about," he said. "I have no relation to him."

Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ] ​​
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]


You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть