Ukrainian Presidential Candidates Laughable?

While Ukraine has never led the polls in democratic process, the country isn’t hard up for contenders, with an incredible and record number 44 people registered for the position of president. The election, set for 31 March, has our current commander-in-chief – Petro Poroshenko set to take on the gas princess Yulia Tymoshenko, but the two household names aren’t the only ones whose names will feature on the ballot.

While Volodymr Zelensky might be new to the political stage, he’s graced many of them before as comedian and director of Ukraine’s Kvartal 95 and is looking to take on the near four dozen hopefuls. Though a clear leader at the polls can’t be named just yet, some sources say that Zelensky has actually overtaken Tymoshenko in terms of popularity, which has provided for titters and chuckles from a number of corners. Remembered and well-liked by the country, most especially for his role as the teacher bat-tling against corruption in the government, Zelensky’s focus has been on positive themes of “national renewal” as opposed to the timeworn Soviet tactics of aggressive patri-otism and populist positions. Perhaps then Zelensky is the way forward for Ukraine. Af-ter all that we’ve been through in the last five years, we could all use a good laugh.