“AS I set off on a spring journey into the world, my mother embroidered my shirt with two colours: red for love and black for sorrow,” goes a popular Ukrainian song. On May 25th, as Ukrainians went to the polls to elect Petro Poroshenko as their new president, many sported the traditional shirts embroidered with red and black threads. Held in the middle of a war stoked by Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and three months after a revolution in Kiev’s Maidan that led to more than 100 deaths—and cost the country Crimea, which Mr Putin annexed—Ukraine’s presidential election was an act of defiance as much as an expression of political preferences.
The sense of nationhood that emerged from the Maidan revolution produced long queues at the polling booths. “We are not just choosing a new president. We are choosing a new country, where everything depends on us,” said Oksana Selezneva, a 24-year-old IT specialist. The energy of voters was directed externally as much as within. As one put it, “Every vote cast is a slap in the face for Mr Putin.” The goal was to show that Ukraine could function as a nation-state. The terror unleashed by separatists in the eastern industrial Donbas region aimed to demonstrate the opposite. Yet, by thwarting the vote in most of their region, separatists also boosted the figures for Mr Poroshenko, enabling him to win in the first round and sparing the country three weeks of uncertainty.
In this section
The Eurosceptic Union
An alternative becomes real
Don’t touch Tempelhof
Triple shock
Syriza and other radicals
Exit Rubalcaba
Against the trend
Schadenfreude
A two-tone election
Who will run Europe?
Reprints
Related topics
Kiev
Europe
Politics
Ukraine
World politics
Mr Poroshenko’s success was in part a recognition of his active role in the Maidan. But it also reflected a longing to return to normal life. Mr Poroshenko’s line of business (chocolates and cakes) and his previous experience in the government as foreign minister and finance minister made him, in the eyes of most of the population, a leader who could take Ukraine to peace, not war. During his campaign he exuded confidence and leadership. Unlike the previous two presidents, Mr Poroshenko represents the centre of the country, not the east or the west.
Full Article: Ukraine’s presidential poll: A two-tone election | The Economist.