Iran Press/ Europe: In a popular Ukrainian TV series, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy played a president who is scrupulously honest and outwits crooked lawmakers and shadowy businessmen who try to stand in his way.
The poll said Zelenskiy had won 73 percent of the vote and that Poroshenko had won just 25 percent of the vote, Reuters reported.
Zelenskiy’s character in the show 'Servant of the People' was loved by Ukrainians fed up with how their country had been governed since independence in 1991.
On Sunday, they turned fantasy into reality after voters elected Zelenskiy by a landslide, according to exit polls, thrusting an actor with no prior political experience and few detailed policies into the presidency of a country at war.
Zelenskiy’s sudden rise comes at a time voters around the world have upended the status quo, propelling anti-establishment forces such as US President Donald Trump and Italy’s 5-Star Movement, which was also once led by a comedian, to power.
Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy
His victory reflected voters’ frustration with politics as usual. Just 9 percent of Ukrainians trust their national government, the lowest of any electorate in the world, a Gallup poll in March showed.
Critics question Zelenskiy’s political inexperience and he remains something of an unknown quantity for investors who want reassurances that he will accelerate reforms and keep Ukraine in an International Monetary Fund programme.
Zelenskiy’s unorthodox campaign put the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko on the backfoot right from the start.
On Apr. 21, Ukrainians headed to the polls for the second round of their presidential election. 101/201/213
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