More than 35 million people are eligible to vote in Ukraine’s presidential election on March 31 – the first electoral test for President Petro Poroshenko since he came to power in 2014 on a wave of pro-Western protests.
However, several million of the voters in the Russian-annexed Crimea and the rebel-held parts of east Ukraine are unable or unwilling to cast their ballots.
The central election commission has registered a record 44 candidates, although some of them later dropped out, leaving 39 on the ballot.
According to opinion polls, three hopefuls stand a chance to become the war-torn country’s sixth president.
They are: Poroshenko, a billionaire with a chocolate empire who is also known as the Chocolate King; opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, once a natural-gas magnate who has the nickname Gas Princess; and a comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has no political experience.
In a country riddled by corruption and torn apart by armed conflict, the majority of Ukrainians appear to be tired of mainstream politicians and have propelled the comic, Zelensky, to the top of the polls.
The 41-year-old, who is best known for playing the lead in the political comedy, Servant of the People, has about 25 percent of the voters’ support – well ahead of Poroshenko (almost 17 percent) and Tymoshenko (more than 18 percent).
According to the non-governmental polling organisation Rating Group, the majority of Zelensky’s supporters are young people between 18 to 25 years old and live mostly in the Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine, the southern and eastern regions.
Poroshenko, 53, who was elected with almost 55 percent of votes in 2014, seems to have failed to rally his electorate despite his efforts to be seen as a passionate fighter for the country’s territorial unity as well as the champion of Ukraine’s dream of integration with the European Union and NATO.