Zelenskiy elected president, declares Donbas ceasefire as top priority

Comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected
president on Apr. 21 in a surreal election campaign in which the Ukrainian
public opted for a candidate with no political experience. Zelenskiy won the
second-round runoff with an overwhelming margin, or 73.2% of votes, compared to
24.5% for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, according to 98% of ballots
counted as of this morning. Zelenskiy was congratulated by Western leaders,
including French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Trump, both of whom
he spoke on the phone with. Voter turnout was 62.8%, slightly less than the
first round of voting. The National Police reported receiving 940 reports of
elections violations, having opened 12 criminal cases and 13 administrative
fines. Several bomb threats were reported.

At his victory press conference, Zelenskiy said his
top priority will be to “continue the Minsk direction to its end for a
ceasefire,” referring to the peace talks aimed at ending the ongoing warfare in
Donbas. “Besides the Minsk Accords, the number one task for us is to return all
war prisoners and sailors,” he said. “I will do everything to return our boys
home. That’s our priority task.” He said he plans to appoint new people to the
positions he is responsible for, especially the prosecutor general. He also
said he’s in talks with military generals for new appointments. Zelenskiy will
make his first nominations public in the coming week, a spokesman said.

As among his first major initiatives, Zelenskiy said
he is planning a powerful information war in the nearest future for a ceasefire
in Donbas, calling upon Ukraine’s journalists and bloggers to help in this
effort. He said he will invite them to an intense discussion of this plan of
action, which will be explained in detail. “There are very creative ideas,” he
said.

Zelenskiy’s inauguration will occur within 30 days of
the Central Election Commission announcing the official election results, which
should occur by Saturday, May 4 at the latest, the apostrophe.ua news site
reported. Therefore, he should be inaugurated no later than June 3.

Zenon Zawada: Zelenskiy
was elected for several reasons, the main ones being the president’s
unwillingness to combat corruption – himself accused of indulging in it – and
his inability to improve economic conditions. The public is exhausted of the
warfare in Donbas, with Poroshenko offering no end in sight. With its selection
of a complete outsider, the Ukrainian public also sent the signal that it
rejects its national elite and its way of doing politics and business.

Having made few promises and revealed no comprehensive
program in his campaign, a wide spectrum of the public will be projecting a
diverse range of expectations onto him. Entrepreneurs are expecting an overhauled
judicial system. State workers expect higher wages. Pensioners expect higher
pensions and lower utility prices. Most of their hopes won’t be satisfied. In
order to be successful, Zelenskiy needs to focus on one or two signature issues
and accomplish progress with them. He is likely to draw from his main campaign
themes, which were fighting corruption, improving business conditions and
ending the warfare.

In his election campaign, Zelenskiy made a high
political stake when making a Donbas ceasefire his highest priority. This issue
has the ability to make or break his presidency in just the first six months.
Both accomplishing that goal, and failing to do so, will inevitably make him
fierce political enemies, and he will have to be prepared in dealing with them
by having his own support base, particularly in parliament. Yet Dmytro
Razumkov, a key adviser to Zelenskiy, said in comments published on Apr. 21
that the president-elect is not considering dismissing parliament. So we
already have doubts on his ability to accomplish much in his first few months.
Without any political breakthroughs, it’s unlikely his party will be able to
muster a strong result in the October parliamentary elections.

Zelenskiy’s main immediate concern is his key
appointments. Alex Danylyuk, the former finance minister who has been among his
closest advisers and spokesmen during the campaign, told the pravda.com.ua news
site that he is not interested in serving as foreign minister, and is more
interested in domestic reforms. Danylyuk is a contender for Presidential
Administration head, who will play a key role in Zelenskiy’s success or
failure. Zelenskiy is certain to replace all the remaining key posts he’s
responsible for, including foreign minister, defense minister, prosecutor
general, security service head and heads of regional administrations.