"It looks like a swan song": what is the memorable debate Zelensky and Poroshenko

Friday, April 19, 2019, may well go down in the history of world politics as the day when the debates of presidential candidates were held for the first time at the stadium of many thousands. The first in-person discussion of the Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky, the favorite of the election race, could have become even more memorable, passing it on two stages as planned.

Right before the start of the event at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev, the current president violated the format of the debate previously agreed by the parties, which, for security reasons, urged not to violate the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. After the draw, in which it was determined that Zelensky would be the first to perform, Poroshenko with his team skirted the field of the sports arena and walked up to the stage to his political opponent.

Thus, before the start of the debate, the supporters of the incumbent president who were at the opposite scene (who for some reason gathered several times more than Zelensky’s supporters) were separated from the epicenter of events by a double barrage and police cordon.

By the way, despite a number of estimates, according to which up to 60 thousand people could visit the stadium, only 22 thousand Ukrainians eventually came to the debate. Such figures were voiced at the briefing by the First Deputy Interior Minister Sergei Yarovoy, who added that 10,000 law enforcement officers were involved in ensuring the security of the event.

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“I am the result of Poroshenko’s mistakes”

The debate regulations suggested two five-minute introductory words, a series of candidate questions and answers to each other, two five-minute closing words, and at the very end, another 30 seconds each for the participants in the presidential race.

The first to begin was Vladimir Zelensky, who admitted that at one time he, like many other Ukrainians, had voted for Petro Poroshenko in the election for the head of state. However, according to him, this was a mistake.

“There are two Petro Poroshenko: Peter the first and Peter the second. Peter the first is shouting against Mikhailovskaya at Putin, and the second is giving him greetings through Medvedchuk. Peter the first says that he opens schools, and Peter the second, meanwhile, opens the shops of Roshen. Peter the first says: I give the shops to a blind trust, and Peter the second for the year enriched 82 times. Peter the first promises a dollar of 10, and the second does at 30. Therefore, we are here. I am the result of Poroshenko's mistakes, ”the showman finished his opening speech.

In turn, the acting head of state accused his rival of political inexperience, and also Zelensky “hid from the military office” four years ago (Poroshenko will repeatedly return to this topic during the debate).

“I emphasize: we see an expensive wrapper around his election program. Someone - raising pensions, someone - lowering tariffs, and someone - moving to Europe. Vladimir, you yourself said that you are a cat in a bag. So, you are just a bag, ”said Poroshenko.

Then followed a block of questions, answers, in which candidates tried to knock each other out of the rut (asking uncomfortable questions and often switching to direct accusations) rather than trying to seriously clarify the opponent’s position on a particular issue.

Moreover, the striking difference with which the politicians led the discussion was clearly striking. If Zelensky was leading the conversation relatively calmly, then Poroshenko constantly spoke in a raised voice, almost breaking off into a scream. Later, on television, he will explain this by the fact that the stadium was loud and he had to strain his voice. For some reason, Zelensky didn’t have to do this (although towards the end of the debate, he still succumbed to emotions and also switched to higher tones).

In the final bloc, the leader of the presidential race (and according to recent polls, more than 70% of Ukrainians are ready to vote for Zelensky) acknowledged that Poroshenko’s rule was marked by a number of significant achievements.

“Tomos, Mova, Army, Bezviz - everything that was on billboards. But I don’t understand why you wrote down all these achievements for yourself ... It’s not even the case that you are bribe takers. The worst thing is that you robbed us of five years, ”the showman said.

In response, Poroshenko called his rival in the presidential race a talented actor and invited Zelensky to continue the discussion on television (as a result, the showman ignored this broadcast, and Poroshenko, according to the regulations, used him for election campaigning).

“I want to appeal to Zelensky’s supporters: friends, we need to look to the future, and not give it to Kolomoisky and Putin. Renewal of power can be done in parliamentary elections, but not presidential. The actor cannot be at war with the Russian aggression, even if it is talented, ”the president summed up, urging Ukrainians to come to the elections on April 21.

It should be added that, perhaps, the episode in which Zelensky suggested Poroshenko to kneel “before each woman who did not wait for her husband, father, before children who lost their father” became the highlight of the debate. After that, the candidates knelt on the stage - Zelensky facing the hall, and Poroshenko - with his back, apparently kissing the flag, which was held in the hands of one of his team members.

"Public search switchman"

The official results of the debates were not summed up, because the regulations did not provide for this, however, the content of the discussion was skeptical of both Ukrainian and Russian politicians and experts.
According to the chairman of the Federation Council’s information policy committee, Alexei Pushkov, the debate at the Kiev stadium left an impression “between total demagogy and a frank farce.”

“I don’t think that the debate will reverse the course of the election campaign. Poroshenko was more assertive, but was not convincing. It looks like his swan song, as false as his entire presidency, ”the senator said.

In turn, Olga Kovitidi, member of the Committee of the Federation Council on Defense and Security, stated in an interview that the discussion of presidential candidates in Ukraine turned into a public search for a switchman responsible for the collapse of the country, kneeling and mutual accusations.

“Bread and circuses - this is how one can characterize what is happening in Ukraine,” said the senator.

However, she noted that one of the most prominent political events of 2019, including the last debate, was the removal of the Crimean issue from the public political agenda of Ukraine.

Another RT interlocutor, State Duma deputy from the Republic of Crimea, Ruslan Balbek, pointed out that not one of the candidates said that he was elected for the sake of Ukraine, increasing the welfare of the Ukrainian people, and finding Ukraine peace.
“One has“ bright wrappers ”in his head, the other has some burning revenge for the mistakes made by the previous authorities. One gets the impression that the state of Ukraine and its population are somewhere out there, ”said the parliamentarian.
Commenting on the speech at the Petro Poroshenko’s debate, State Duma deputy from Sevastopol Dmitry Belik drew attention to the fact that the president “was covered by Russia” to any accusation of Zelensky and any question asked.

The deputy added that the head of state completely lost the initiative in the debates and "initially lost them, agreeing to the conditions of Zelensky."

“The debates at the stadium differ significantly from the debates in the warm and cozy studio, to which the current president of Ukraine is accustomed. And his opponent Poroshenko took full advantage of his experience of participating in such events, in KVN, in a stand-up show, where the audience’s reaction, the ability to “lead the crowd”, play on her feelings, make her laugh is more important than the whole meaning said, "Belik said.

According to the expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, Vladimir Brutera, the event at the Olympic has become a clean show, in which there was no debate. Although, given the format of this discussion, there could be no other result, the analyst believes.

In turn, political analyst and economist Alexander Dudchak noted that he could not recall in which country in the world from the recent debates of candidates for the highest state post they had a show.

“Of course, it was interesting to listen to all this. Zelensky fulfilled his task, there were no failures, Poroshenko’s attempts to put pressure on him failed. This debate will in no way affect the decision made by the electorate. Those proportions that were will remain unchanged. During the debates, nothing that could have changed was sounded, no emotions were caused, ”Dudchak summed up.

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“We need to build a normal, good, mutually beneficial relationship”

We add that on April 19, was marked by unprecedented excitement in the capital of Ukraine. On the eve of the debate in the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the difficult transport situation in Kiev.

"At the entrance to the capital, there is a difficult transport situation, people are brought from all over the country," - said the first deputy head of the department Sergey Yarovoy.

Debate visitors were urged to come to the stadium "lightly" and not to take with them any items that can be used as weapons, including throwing. In addition to 10 thousand law enforcement officers, the An-26 aircraft and the medical helicopter Eurocopter EC-145 GOCHS were attracted to ensure security. In addition, snipers were on duty on the roofs of residential high-rise buildings. However, both the debates themselves and the overall situation in Kiev were not marked by any significant violations.

In addition, the District Administrative Court of Kiev received a lawsuit prohibiting the departure of Petro Poroshenko abroad, the head of his administration, Igor Raynin, and the first deputy chairman of the BPP faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Igor Kononenko. The plaintiff was the presenter of the TV channel “1 + 1” Alexander Dubinsky.

Earlier in the Kremlin they said that they would be watching the debates, and the recording of the event would certainly be handed over to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“In any case, we will try to write it down, pass it on to the president, too, maybe he will have some time to look at the weekend. Of course, we will include all of this in our digests, ”said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

At the same time, he expressed the hope that the new Ukrainian president would not belong to the “war party”.

“No deals with Putin or with Moscow are needed. We need to build normal, good, mutually beneficial relations based on mutual trust and cooperation and interaction, which are in the interests of both Russians and Ukrainians who live in Russia and in Ukraine, ”said Peskov.

Second round

The second round of presidential elections in Ukraine will be held on Sunday, April 21. An additional round of voting was appointed due to the fact that none of the 39 candidates for the post in the first round had passed the threshold of 50% of the vote. The leader was Vladimir Zelensky, who received support from 30.24% of voters. He was almost twice ahead of Petro Poroshenko (15.95%).

The inauguration of the winner of the vote should be held in the Rada no later than June 3.