Volodymyr Zelensky – a TV actor and comedian – won the 2019 Ukrainian Presidential Election. A novice in the field of politics, Zelensky defeated the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko by winning over 73 per cent of the votes.
Poroshenko won only a little over 24 per cent of the votes. However, he maintained that he will not quit politics.
The 41-year-old Zelensky is best known for starring in ‘Servant of the People,’ a satirical television series in which he plays a history teacher who accidentally becomes the President of Ukraine when his rant about corruption in the government goes viral over social media.
His campaign focussed on promises to eliminate corruption and to reduce the grip that oligarchs have on Ukraine. However, his policies and plans towards obtaining these goals were less detailed and vague. His campaigning in the election, too, did not follow the traditional path – he did not give political speeches or conduct rallies. Rather, he communicated with the voters primarily on social media, where he shared videos of standup comedy gigs and jokes.
This is an important time for Ukraine as it is plagued by a war with Russia-backed separatist forces in the east. Also, a failing economy and malpractices associated with corruption need to be addressed.
Who is Volodymyr Zelensky?
Zelensky is an actor, comedian, and producer but is also a trained lawyer. He owns a highly successful production company called Kvartal 95, which produced the series ‘Servants of the People.’ The millionaire is also has a huge fan-following of 4.2 million people on the social media site, Instagram.
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