Zelensky most favored Ukrainian presidential elections promises to “break the system”

Ukrainian presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelensky promised to break the system during a Friday debate with his rival, current President Petro Poroshenko, which was the culmination of an unusual election campaign in the war-ravaged country.

Two days before the second election, the 41 year old actor, a beginner in politics but a professional reviewer, faces the 53year old head of state amid cheering thousands of spectators and shouting at the Olympisky Stadium.

“I am convinced that we can break this system with appropriate people and a different mentality, a mentality of the 21st century”, Zelensky said.

“The problem is not that there are corrupt people in your vicinity … but you stole from us for five years”, he told his opponent.

Having campaigned mainly through social media, the actor, who has the experience of two decades of theatrical performances, repeated the shocking words, presenting himself as a “simple person” in the face of “the richest president” in the history of Ukraine.

Poroshenko, who from the start referred to his opponent’s “total incompetence”, replied that “the country cannot be played”.

“An inexperienced representative cannot confront the Russian aggressor”, he said, referring to accusations by Kiev and Westerners of Moscow of backing separatists in the Russian east.

The meeting, organized in the final hours of the official campaign, was a last chance for President Poroshenko to try to bridge the gap with the representative, who gives him 70 percent of the vote.

Poroshenko has presented himself as the only obstacle to Vladimir Putin, and in recent days hasn’t stopped stressing the dangers of jumping into the unknown for a country facing the worst crisis since its independence in 1991.

Following the arrival of Poroshenko in power in 2014 following the uprising in the field, Russia annexed the Crimea and a war in the east that killed some 13,000 people in five years.

While praising the country’s rapprochement with the West, advancing the armed forces and averting the bankruptcy of one of Europe’s poorest nations, none of the high-level officials have been prosecuted for corruption.

The conflict in the east seems to be in trouble.

“I am not opposed to you, but I am your punishment”, Zelensky told his opponent.

“I am the result of your mistakes and promises”.

Facing Poroshenko’s challenge to his opponent to accept a debate, Zelensky raised the issue of regulation mechanisms, demanded that the matter be played in a stadium and that the participants conduct alcohol and drug tests.

The matter was discussed throughout the week, and the amendments continued until the end: the rivals eventually met on one platform and shook hands after a proposal to stop on two opposing platforms.

Far from his promise to stay in the pro-Western camp, Zelensky’s policy will be largely obscured if he wins despite trying to bolster his credibility during the inter-election period, using more sophisticated advisers and meeting him last week in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron.

“With regard to the war, we’ll do everything to bring it to an end”, he said without elaborating.

The peace accords signed in Minsk at the beginning of 2015 allowed a decline in tension, but the fighting continued almost daily, and the parties concerned, after long hours of negotiations on Thursday night, failed to reach a truce agreement during the Orthodox Easter period on 28 April.