A stand-up comedian is about to be inaugurated as president of Ukraine. How will he fare?
The outgoing Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, is like a misbehaved “tourist at an Egyptian hotel. He’s pilfering the towel and slippers. He is grabbing as much as he can from the buffet,” newly minted president Volodymyr Zelensky has said about his predecessor. “I’m asking you: to return your key, pay for the mini bar, and leave! You still have to go through customs and passport control.”
Several weeks after he was elected, but not yet inaugurated, Zelensky pointed out that Poroshenko has pushed a raft of new appointments through parliament. The posts include a new army commander, new judges, and a new head of communications – filled with people from Poroshenko’s circles.
The worry is that if parliament decides that Zelensky takes office after May 27, he will no longer have the right to dissolve the parliament before the end of its term. That means elections will only take place in autumn. So far Zelensky may have won the election, but his party doesn’t have any members of parliament yet. For now, Zelensky’s inauguration is expected to be held on May 20.
The world has been amazed ever since Zelensky emerged as a serious presidential candidate. He previously played the lead role in Servant of the People, a satirical comedy series. It tells the story of a history teacher, Vasyl Holoborodko, whose expletives-filled tirade against corruption is secretly filmed by a pupil, and goes viral, catapulting him into presidency. (You can watch it on Netflix with English subtitles.)
The series did not only grip Ukrainian audiences, but it also convinced them he’d be the right person for the actual job. In an astounding example of life imitating art, the 41-year old stand-up comedian Zelensky was elected president with an 73% majority.
The current hold-up around Zelensky’s inauguration echoes an episode of the series. When his fictional character, Holoborodko, tries moving into his new office, the outgoing president refuses to leave. He shouts that he’s still the legitimate president, demands a litre of vodka, a pack of cigarettes and political asylum in Yugoslavia. “But Yugoslavia no longer exists,” Holoborodko says. “He knows – that’s why he’s demanding the vodka,” his secretary replies. The outgoing president proceeds to fire a shotgun through the door, but misses, in the end Holoborodko saves the day.
As a comedian, it’s no wonder that Zelensky excels on the political stage too. In April’s televised debate against his opponent, he turned to the audience and said: “I voted for the Poroshenko in 2014. But I made a mistake. We all made a mistake. We voted for one Poroshenko, but we got elected another.”
The first shouts “Putin I’ll show you!” while the second “sends greetings to Moscow.” The first says “I’ll open a school” while the second “opens Roshen shops.” [Poroshenko’s confectionary chain.] The first promises to “pass his business affairs on to others,” while the second “increases his own wealth 82 times in one year. Should we pass Ukraine’s budget on to someone else too – is that how it works?”
“That’s why I’m here with my team. I’m not a politician, I’m a simple person. I am here because the system is broken. I am the result of your mistakes and promises.” Meanwhile, Poroshenko’s speech largely consisted of platitudes. In one memorable moment, Poroshenko described Zelensky as a “cat in a sack,” who retorted: “it’s better to be a cat in a sack, than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
It’s not the first time that television has radically changed politics. In fact, the very first American televised presidential debate of 1960 is said to have won John F. Kennedy the election. Kennedy took the debate seriously and was well-prepared. Unlike Nixon who rushed over from another engagement, banged his knee as he got to the studio, and refused makeup. As a result, Nixon looked listless on screen, compared to a tanned and radiant Kennedy. Now, Zelensky has taken the influence of television to a new level.
Undoubtedly, he has also brought renewed hope to Ukrainian politics. As one friend, who lives in Kiev, and who was initially sceptical, put it: “At first, I voted for Poroshenko, because I didn’t want another shake-up in the country. I thought, at least Poroshenko’s men had already divided the cake among themselves, and now there was calm in the country.”
“But when I saw that Zelensky was leading in the first round, I thought maybe I’m behind the times. Then, I saw the debate and Poroshenko was weak and gormless. His dirty campaign tactics annoyed me too and I lost trust completely. So, in the second round I voted for Zelensky.”
On a recent trip to Kiev, I spent some time tracking down my family’s old apartment on the outskirts of the city. There, I walked on pock marked roads, amid crumbling tower blocks with boarded up balconies. The dilapidated state of the neighbourhood stood in stark contrast to the well-dressed, softly spoken people who were walking through it. I do hope that Zelensky lives up to the expectations of the 73% who voted for him.
It remains to be seen. He speaks with great clarity, humility and humanity. But the challenges the country is facing are immense – from Russia’s muscle flexing, to Ukraine’s economic misery and its slow progress on fighting corruption. His fictional counterpart tends to save the day, but will Zelensky?
Western leaders have already been scrambling to get an in with him. In a congratulatory note, EU institutional leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, said he can “count on the EU’s strong support to Ukraine’s reform path.” Ukraine’s stability is “essential for Europe’s security, and I look forward to working closely with you,” Theresa May tweeted when Zelensky was elected. The West is reaching out and Ukraine continues to turn westward, while Russia is putting up new statues of Stalin.
