Comedian who plays president on TV enjoys strong polling lead over actual president as Ukraine votes in runoff election
Opinion surveys ahead of the vote have shown 53-year-old President Petro Poroshenko trailing far behind comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reflecting public dismay with endemic corruption, a moribund economy and a five-year fight against Russia-backed insurgents in the country's east.
Poroshenko, a billionaire candy magnate before taking office, has relied on traditional political barnstorming, using sympathetic television stations to extensively cover his appearances. Zelenskiy, however, has largely stayed away from the campaign trail and eschewed interviews. He has run his campaign mainly on Instagram, where he has 3.7 million followers.
The incumbent campaigned on the same promise he made when he was elected in 2014: to lead the nation of 42 million into the European Union and NATO -- the goals that look elusive amid Ukraine's economic problems, pervasive corruption and fighting in the east. A visa free deal with the EU spawned the exodus of millions of skilled workers for better living conditions elsewhere in Europe.
"Poroshenko has done a lot of good things for the country, creating its own church, getting the visa-free deal and taking Ukraine away from the empire," said 44-year-old businessman Volodymyr Andreichenko, who voted for him. Zelenskiy, who comes from Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking east, has opposed Poroshenko's push for a bill that would outlaw the Russian language and mocked the creation of the new church as a campaign stunt.
Like Poroshenko, Zelenskiy pledged to keep Ukraine's on its pro-Western course, but said the country should only join NATO if voters approve that in a referendum. He
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