Ukraine’s presidential elections, 2019- The main candidates
Ukraine’s presidential elections, 2019. The main candidates

Author(s): Tadeusz Iwański, Krzysztof Nieczypor
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Governance, Government/Political systems, Electoral systems, Geopolitics
Published by: OSW Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia
Keywords: Ukraine’s presidential elections; Ukraine
Summary/Abstract: For the first time in the history of independent Ukraine, seven months before the presidential election, it is difficult to determine not only who the most likely winner will be, but also which two candidates will make it into the second round. A victory for any politician in the first round (31 March 2019) now seems out of the question. Opinion polls unequivocally indicate that Yulia Tymoshenko enjoys the greatest support. At the same time, over 20% of voters do not know or do not want to disclose who they will vote for; over 10% would choose someone who is not included in the polls, and almost half would look for an alternative among new candidates. The main contenders, apart from the pro-Russian candidates, basically do not differ in their views on which way Ukraine should develop strategically. Each of them has declared their support for Ukraine's integration with the EU and NATO, the continuation of reforms, and political and economic modernisation similar to the Western model. The public's great demand for new faces and people who have not been compromised by politics, the low support for the current main presidential candidates, and the high percentage of voters who have not yet decided who they will vote for, mean that the final winner of the election could be decided by unexpected events - scandals, catastrophes, the intensification of military activities in the Donbass, etc. - which could take place or be provoked in the period directly preceding the election.

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