GOOD THING ELECTIONS ARE BANNED! Zelensky Would Lose if Elections Were Held Today, Poll Finds
The general he just fired would be more successful at the ballot box than the battlefield
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president far more popular in the U.S. Congress than in his own country, would lose in an election if votes were counted today, according to a new poll.
RT, the Russian news outlet, cited Ukrainian pollster SOCIS that found former General Valery Zaluzhny would pull in 41 percent in the first round, and 67.5 percent in the runoff. Zelensky would get 23.7 percent in the first round and no more than 32.5 percent in the second round.
Zelensky recently fired Zaluzhny after the failed counteroffensive. Some analysts saw Zaluzhny as a future alternative to Zelensky.
Zaluzhny angered Kyiv when he said in an interview in November that his forces seem to be stuck in a stalemate, and that he does not expect to see any significant breakthroughs soon.
Zelensky announced in November that given the state of the war, it is not the right time to hold elections in Ukraine because it is important that “politically divisive things” stop.
Zelensky, who was wrapping up his first five-year term, found a loophole in the country’s constitution that states elections cannot be held while under martial law. Zelensky declared martial law on 24 February 2022, the day Russia invaded.
The presidential election should be taking place in the spring of 2024.
Zelensky, a law-degree-carrying comedian who played the Ukrainian president on a TV show, ran for office in 2019 and vowed to work to clean up the crony capitalism and corruption in Kyiv. The show was called “Servant of the People.”
The act worked and Zelensky, who was 41 in the spring of 2019, carried 73 percent of the vote. But his government was never serious about peace with Russia, and, instead, instigated a war by appeals to the U.S. and NATO and refusal to address grievances in the Donbas.
TRENDPOST: It’s worth remembering Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican hopeful, touched a nerve when he appeared to call Zelensky a “Nazi” during a debate.