And the winner is – Ukraine

As the partying ends on one side and PTDS subsides on the other, beyond politics and partisanship, and winners and losers, the biggest winner of the 2019 presidential elections campaign in Ukraine is – Ukraine.

If you’ve followed the campaign over the past couple of months, listened to the debates last Friday, and then watched the voting returns, you’d see that Ukraine – i.e. the Ukrainian people – have contributed to an enviously high degree of democratic development.

The election campaign was appropriately a political donnybrook between two diametrically opposed candidates: President Petro Poroshenko – representing freedom – and leading candidate Volodymyr Zelensky – representing renewed Russian domination. Regardless of what you thought of the debates, its format was an image of democratic sophistication right down to Poroshenko’s gesture of walking from his side of the Olympic Stadium’s end zone to join Zelensky on his side.

Finally, perhaps the crowning moment, while votes were still being counted but the damning results were quite visible on the wall, Poroshenko graciously conceded to Zelensky and called on the Ukrainian nation to unite for the good of Ukraine.

All countries in the region should learn well this democratic lesson.

Now to the outcome and the short-term future. Yes, Poroshenko was a misfortune and Zelensky was considered a catastrophe but the losing side that must now keep the hypothetical consequences from becoming a real catastrophe for Ukraine.

With three-quarters of the electorate supporting the untested, unknown non-Ukrainian speaking television comedian who referred to Ukraine as a porno star rather than the incumbent Poroshenko, the question arises how could Ukrainians resoundingly reject the latter in favor of the former?

Zelensky had the image of being the darling of Russian President Putin because he repeatedly stated that he could tolerate anyone but Poroshenko as president of Ukraine. Not surprising because Poroshenko has managed to stymie Moscow’s obvious and bloody intentions to re-subjugate Ukraine.

Poroshenko’s major global success was that he succeeded in mobilizing the free world in a noble anti-Russian crusade to save Ukraine while ironically Ukrainian voters apparently rejected that accomplishment. Poroshenko is an experienced Ukrainian politician who asked rhetorically Ukrainian voters: would you board a plane whose pilot is still learning how to fly? Seemingly they would.

Ukrainian voters themselves are faced with strong ingrained feelings of disdain, jealousy and vengeance which contributed to their support for Zelensky.

Perhaps this blinded them from seeing the full picture of Poroshenko’s noteworthy accomplishments for the good of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people and shielded them from Zelensky’s inadequacies.

Another reason often cited for Zelensky’s victory is that the people are fed up with corruption. Poroshenko, an affluent businessman and candy maker who is regarded as an oligarch by some, is seen as a politician who closed his eyes to corruption.

However, Ukraine, 28 years after declaring its independence from the USSR, which was fraught with corruption, has not yet shed that larcenous albatross. Consequently, Ukrainians are hypocritical about that crime. They are against corruption in Kyiv, the Presidential Administration, and parliament, but not in their backyards. Do not dare touch what they have acquired by petty corruption, they would scream when challenged. Some would say “What do you mean I can’t pay off a principal or rector so he or she admits my child or allows my son or daughter to graduate?” Ukrainians demand change elsewhere but won’t change for the better by themselves.

The Ukrainian voters’ behavior reminds me of a biting observation by American author Orson Scott Card: “If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side.”

Why weren’t Zelensky supporters mindful of the Russia’s ongoing war against their homeland? Why didn’t eastern Ukrainians remember Russia’s famine murders of their ancestors? Why did everyone forget the Revolution of Dignity and the Heavenly Hundred, and centuries-long independence struggles?

One reason is that Zelensky underwent a metamorphosis courtesy of his patron Ihor Kolomoisky, an oligarch himself who stole $5.5 billion from Ukraine by transferring funds via Cyprus. Zelensky even learned to speak Ukrainian and sing the Ukrainian national anthem along with his wife at the end of the debates.

This successful transformation should not startle anyone who is familiar with the book “The Selling of the President, 1968,” which revealed the influence that image making can have on political campaigning. It showed that voters are bored with issues while being influenced with images.

Thanks to Kolomoisky, 41-year-old Zelensky was polished and shined and to his supporters he epitomized the new, younger generation of Ukraine that could lead the country out of its abyss. He was trained how to perform during a debate and what to say or not say during a political campaign.

In the wake of Zelensky’s victory, two picturesque mottos surfaced to soothe the wounds of the losers. One was “25%,” which signifies the amount of voters that didn’t vote for Zelensky and the other was “Not Indifferent Minority.”

Indeed, these maxims should rally that segment of the Ukrainian population into monitoring Zelensky’s every step. They don’t have to express support for him or join his administration or become his groupies, only scrutinize him and raise bloody hell if deviates from pro-Ukrainian policies or seeks to negotiate Ukraine out of the war with Russia thereby leaving occupied territories permanently occupied.

Will Zelensky curry favor in Moscow by flying there before the transition of power? Apparently, Moscow is waiting for him to come groveling. Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning opposition, observed that Zelensky could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of his country within months and get cheap gas and major investment from Russia if he repairs ties with Moscow. We don’t yet know how many silver pieces this will cost.

What will be the fate of Crimea and the Ukrainian POWs and other prisoners of conscience in Russian imprisonment?

Since his victory, Zelensky said he would favor the Ukrainian language, support Ukraine and fight corruption. He pledged to be a one-term president. He also thanked law enforcement officers “for their honest service” and Ukrainian soldiers “for guarding Ukraine.” He pledged that he would never deceive the Ukrainian people.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group pointed out that Zelensky’s consistent lack of detail regarding what he stands for and what policies he will introduce was almost certainly meant to significantly broaden his electorate. At the outset Zelensky dangerously seems to want to change the attitudes of the people as he ignores reality including that Moscow launched and is financing what has become the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-19.

As for corruption, it’s curious what will be the visible and invisible roles of gray cardinal Kolomoisky? Will Zelensky be beholden to him? To be sure, Zelensky’s presidency will quickly implode if Kolomoisky and other oligarchs aren’t put behind bars.

For Zelensky, his showman’s life of leisure, parties and fun is over. To protect Ukraine against a revanche, the nation – in Ukraine and the diaspora – must keep up its pressure on him, scrutinize every action and slice and dice every statement.

In the meantime, back to reality. News reports state that Russia has moved another battalion group to the Ukrainian border while fighting has ramped up in Donbas. One military pundit has already predicted that a Zelensky victory will invite a full-fledged Russian invasion of all of Ukraine.