People’s Servant support collapsing, latest poll says

Public support is collapsing for The People’s Servant
party that was launched by Ukrainian President Zelensky, according to the
latest poll released on Jan. 26. About 11.2% of decided voters said they would
vote for Zelensky’s party, which gained election to parliament in July 2019
with an overwhelming 43% result. That’s compared to 20.7% for the Putin-aligned
Opposition Platform For Life party, 15.3% for the pro-NATO European Solidarity
party, 12.6% for the anti-IMF Fatherland party. Also qualifying for parliament
are the pro-NATO Strength and Honor party (8.3%), the pro-NATO Voice party
(5.6%) and the pro-infrastructure Groysman’s Ukrainian Strategy party (5.3%).

Zelensky’s celebrity immunity is wearing off as well,
according to the poll. He would gain 19.8% of ballots from decided voters,
compared to 15.7% for the pro-NATO Petro Poroshenko, 11.8% for the anti-IMF
Yulia Tymoshenko, 11.0% for the pro-Putin Yuriy Boyko, 8.9% for the pro-NATO
Ihor Smeshko, 7.5% for the pro-Putin Viktor Medvedchuk and 5.8% for the
infrastructure organizer Volodymyr Groysman. The poll was conducted among 1,005
respondents on Jan. 22 by the Western-sponsored Kyiv International Institute of
Sociology (KIIS).

Zenon Zawada: This poll
confirms the primary trends in Ukrainian politics: (1) Zelensky and his party
are losing votes to the pro-Russian forces, largely because they are incapable
of solving any major problem facing the country, (2) the pro-Russian forces are
already taking a consistent lead in the polls, largely because they are capable
of resolving the war in Donbas (through capitulation) and (3) Poroshenko and
his party have hit their ceiling and are incapable of widening their support.
With its hybrid war in Ukraine, the Kremlin is succeeding in infiltrating many
critical governing structures. Besides the President’s Office and the
Prosecutor General’s Office, the Kremlin is now positioning itself for major
gains in the next national elections.

It’s worth noting this poll has numerous questionable
features like its small pool of respondents (usually KIIS has twice more) and
the fact that it was a telephone poll (whose results differ from traditional
face-to-face interviews, as has been recognized by KIIS). It’s also
questionable to include Medvedchuk as a presidential candidate, which dilutes
the support for Boyko, who has been the only presidential contender fielded by
the Opposition Platform (he and Medvedchuk have 18.5% combined). Meanwhile, the
5.6% result for the neoliberal Voice party is not confirmed by any other poll.
The strong results for Smeshko and his party are also questionable, and we
believe he is unlikely to become a serious factor on the political scene.