Volodomyr Zelensky – Kiron Reid

The election of President Zelenskyy in 2019.

Small British Liberal political magazine Liberator republished the article I wrote in 2019 about President Zelenskyy’s victory that I had forgotten that I wrote. The pdf of the magazine, Liberator issue 412 can be downloaded here
https://liberatormagazine.org.uk/back-issues/

The blurb says
Liberator 412 can be downloaded here . This is the April 2022 online-only edition of Liberator and we hope you enjoy reading it.
What’s inside this issue?
Alongside Radical Bulletin, Commentary and Letters, Liberator 412 includes:
UKRAINE’S COMEDIAN PRESIDENT IS NO COMIC.
Kiron Reid saw great hope on democracy’s eastern border in Ukraine when this article was published in Liberator 398 in November 2019 after the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy as president. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we reprint it here, followed by some necessarily anonymous reflections on Ukraine now and the path to war from an observer who knows the country well

Reviewing this in 2022 I think that nearly every point is still valid. I could have made more critical comment on Volodymyr Zelenskyy (and in the last year too), and on his predecessor, who I like, Petro Poroshenko (I always buy his Roshen brand chocolates), and I could then & would now explain more problems with the inflexible EU trade policy towards Ukraine’s links with Russia (especially in the east) and a misguided nationalist language policy (which is getting to be quite a national myth now – ignoring that most people Russia is killing are Russian speakers). None of those points undermine the fundamental issue – that Russia invaded Ukraine unprovoked in 2014 and is carrying on unprovoked a barbaric war in 2022. In 2022. In Europe.

My article on the Ukraine elections, and new President, Zelenskyi.

My article on the Ukraine elections and new President was published here in the newsletter of Liberal International (British Group). At pages 13 – 15. With thanks to the editor, Stewart Rayment, and for editing the text to Mark Smulian of Liberator magazine, which is due to publish the article as well next month.
InterLib September 2019: https://libg.co.uk/en/document/interlib-september-2019#document

It is a .pdf file, which you can download, my article is at pages 13 – 15.

I have also put the unedited text of the Liberator magazine article, below.

In the space I didn’t have time to cover in any detail what the election observation involves, or what was and wasn’t done during the election that either broke election law or in inventive and imaginative ways got round the spirit of the election laws. I give some account of why I am sympathetic to former President Petro Poroshenko – I could give rather more reasons and concrete examples – but at the same time I didn’t have enough space to outline my criticisms of him, and more reasons why I am cautiously optimistic about President Zelenskyi. Nor was I able to talk about what living in Ukraine is actually like and the many normal and unusual things (for someone from Britain), huge number of extreme contrasts and paradoxes. I’m always happy to talk about these topics from my own experience to anyone interested.

For those who want some detail about the mechanics and outcome of the election I recommend this blog by my friend and Long Term Observer election colleague, Alex Folkes:
Ukraine’s President gets what he wants out of Parliamentary polls but wants more

July 27 ‘Ukraine’s president gets what he wants out of parliamentary polls but wants more’.

I have also put the unedited text of the Liberator magazine draft article, here:

Ukraine’s Comedian is no comic. Great hope & some chance on democracy’s eastern border.

Article for Liberator magazine (UK Liberal political magazine), published edited in the newsletter of Liberal International British Group. This is a Word .doc document.