Zelensky's participation in the elections is a great test for us, Ukrainians

Participation of Zelensky in the elections is a wonderful test for us, Ukrainians

There is a joke: if you offer a job to the stupid man as President of the United States, he will be infinitely glad, a normal person would think, and a smart one would jump out the window.

I watched a bit of Zelensky’s interview and I have something to say about it. Of course, it’s very funny that Gordon immediately put him after Kolomoyskyi, perhaps even a little ironic hinting, but judging by what was seen and heard, he is not an absolute marionette and a managed project. Undoubtedly, Kolomoisky’s influence is obvious and perhaps even critical, but Zelensky shows a completely obvious autonomous initiative toward political ambitions.

Judge for yourself — the guy is a top actor from the times of Kuchma. This means that he has attended numerous corporate events and private drinking parties of all key political and business figures of our state over the past 15 years. Three presidents have changed — and he is still mega-popular. He has seen them all in informal settings, drunk, ordinary people. From his stories — he spoke in front of Yanukovych and Medvedev when there was nobody else besides them. He was at Kuchma’s birthday party in Parteniy, when Elton John performed there and they showed it to us on television. He drank with Yanukovych two in a row in Mezhyhirya, one-on-one. He has seen the whole political kitchen from the inside. What can surprise a person who has seen a drunk Yanukovych in a bathrobe? And we know well how many casual people and outright adventurers the Ukrainian political scene has known over its history. And sooner or later, watching all this, a person naturally asks — if they can be here, then why can’t I? I’m certainly not worse.

And here there is one huge nuance. I could only listen to the introductory part of the interview, where it talks about life stories, family, parents, and show business. There everything is fine, Zelensky is undoubtedly a talented actor and a bright person. As soon as Volodymyr began to think about how to resolve the situation with the war and Putin — my blood started to run from my ears. This is absolute total shit, a complete misunderstanding of how the system of state administration and geopolitics is organized. It’s just an infantilized guy who decided that since he achieved success in one sphere, he can completely repeat it in another. The classic survivor’s mistake, which we have observed many times in the example of Klitschko, Oksana Baiorzir, Vakarchuk and the rest of the showmen. But Reagan could do it, they say.

Damn it, besides Reagan, in the USA there are many state regulatory and restraining institutions that do not allow the president to become a monarch. And to dismiss the president — they do not need to shoot young guys in the main square of the country, throw the country into an economic abyss, and defend against Mexico that suddenly decided to attack. Now you don’t even have to go as far as Reagan’s example if there is a fresh Trump, another clown. And so, did Americans start living very badly? No, because for them the president is more about foreign policy and defending democracy in the world than about the country’s internal life.

But our president is a guy who comes to the Verkhovna Rada to personally pressure lawmakers with his presence, to hold backstage conversations and influence the life of the country directly. That’s what Yanukovych did and that’s what Poroshenko does.

And therefore Zelensky’s participation in the elections and his position in the final vote is a wonderful test for us, Ukrainians, to determine who we are — voters or spectators. And if he really gets a lot of votes or, God forbid, wins — then I will have to admit that he is an excellent comedian.

Volodymyr GEVKO