Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy beats incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in the second round of Ukrainian presidential elections, scheduled for April 21, according to polls held by Razumkov Center, Rating group and Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
As the voting held on March 31, in the first round of Ukrainian presidential elections came to an end, the two candidates advancing to the second round are Zelenskiy, receiving over 30 percent after 85 percent of the votes counted, and Poroshenko, receiving 16 percent.
According to the polls held by the three main Ukrainian sociological institutes between March 9-15, and revealed on March 28, 37-42 percent of Ukrainians are planning to vote for Zelenskiy in the second round, while between 17-19 percent of respondents will vote for Poroshenko. 20 percent said they’ll yet to decide, while 21-24 percent said they won’t vote.
Razumkov Center and Rating group made a breakdown by candidates not making it to the second round. According to the polls, around 40 percent of those voted for pro-Russian candidates Yuriy Boyko, receiving 11 percent in the first round, and Oleksandr Vilkul, 4 percent in the first round, will most likely vote for Zelenskiy.
Similarly those voted for former Prime-Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the first round, who came in third with 13 percent, will most likely vote for Zelenskiy according to the polls, with 35 percent of respondents saying they will support the comedian, while only 8 percent supporting Poroshenko.
Among the voters for candidates that received at least one percent of the vote, only supporters of nationalist Ruslan Koshulynskyi are willing to support the incumbent president in the second round, according to the polls.
Koshulynskyi was supported by less than two percent of those voted.
Supporters of presidential candidate and Former Defense Minister Anatoliy Grytsenko, as well as those supporting former head of Ukraine’s Security Service Ihor Smeshko split when asked who they would support in a Zelenskiy-Poroshenko runoff. Among them 30-35 percent are willing to support Zelenskiy, while 20-25 percent are willing to support Poroshenko.
Grytsenko received seven percent during the first round, while Smeshko took slightly less than six percent of the total.
Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told the Kyiv Post that voters turnout will be key in the runoff, with the incumbent president having little chances to get re-elected if people will show up at the ballot.
“The smaller the turnout the bigger the changes (for Poroshenko) and vice versa, “says Fesenko, adding that “(Poroshenko’s) main goal will be to make those supporting Zelenskiy and the opposition to not show up.”
According to Fesenko, those who didn’t vote for Poroshenko in the first round won’t support him in the second.
“Somewhere more, somewhere less, but among the supporters of Tymoshenko, Grytsenko, (Oleh) Lyashko, most will vote for Zelenskiy,” sums up Fesenko –“They’ll not vote specifically for Zelenskiy, rather against Poroshenko.”
