Zelenskiy to reveal advisors, action plan as debate prospects are unclear

The campaign of presidential front-runner Volodymyr
Zelenskiy will reveal the candidate’s team of advisors and action plan for the
first 100 days ahead of the second-round runoff scheduled for Apr. 21, said on
television on Apr. 4 Ruslan Riaboshapka, an advisor to the candidate.

This morning, Zelenskiy submitted his blood for
testing as part of a challenge to President Poroshenko that he issued on Apr. 3
to prove to the public that neither candidate has traces of drugs in their
system. Poroshenko met the challenge by also submitting his blood this morning.
Zelenskiy also accepted Poroshenko’s challenge to a debate, but demanded that
it occur at Kyiv’s Olympic stadium. Poroshenko accepted the challenge but
elections officials noted that such a debate at a stadium wouldn’t fall under
the purview of official elections rules. It’s still unclear whether a debate
will occur and under what conditions.

Zenon Zawada: Just days
after his first-round victory, the comedian Zelenskiy has already managed to
turn the runoff campaign into a circus, challenging the president to a drug
test and a stadium debate. The Poroshenko campaign has decided to allow the
president to jump through Zelenskiy’s circus hoops because it recognizes that
Poroshenko is in the disadvantaged position of having to prove himself to the
public and win over as many votes as possible, having finished in a distant
second place.

A poll hasn’t been produced yet of how many undecided
voters remain and what are their characteristics. Certainly, warnings of
expanded Russian military aggression, losing Euro-Atlantic integration
prospects and economic collapse will prompt some of the undecided voters to
cast their ballots for Poroshenko. But we believe that won’t be enough. Nor
will anything that Poroshenko proves in a debate, as Zelenskiy’s supporters
already understand that he doesn’t have any foreign policy experience.

It will be interesting to see what dramatic steps the
Poroshenko administration might take in the coming weeks to sway in the public
in the president’s favor. And it will even more important for us to hear
Zelenskiy at the debate to better understand his policies and assess their
implications for Ukraine’s economy and sovereign risk.