Ukrainian President Zelensky voted country’s ‘Loser of the Year’, predecessor Poroshenko named runner-up

A Ukrainian opinion poll has crowned President Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘Loser of the Year’, with 28 percent of respondents giving the country's leader the unwanted honor.

The survey, which polled residents of 131 Ukrainian settlements, reveals just how divided opinion is on the former comedian, with Zelensky also winning 15 percent of the votes for ‘Politician of the Year’ – more than any other candidate.

Funded by the Dutch government, and conducted jointly by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, the study sheds light on the falling popularity of the Ukrainian president, who won 46 percent of the votes for ‘Politician of the Year’ in 2019. Both of the institutions conducting the survey have a history of working for foreign governments, including Britain and the US.

Behind Zelensky, ex-president Petro Poroshenko came second in the battle to be the country's biggest ‘loser’, with 13.8 percent. Other names on the list include former Prime Minister Aleksey Goncharuk (4.4%), Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov (2.8%), and Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko (2.7%).

In terms of ‘Politician of the Year’, Petro Poroshenko again was runner up (9.2%), with opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk in third (6.9%).

“In 2020, Ukraine has no politician of the year. The Ukrainians gave a relative majority to incumbent President Zelensky, but he received only 15 percent of the vote,” note the study's authors.

This year, Kiev has struggled to deal with an out-of-control Covid-19 pandemic and Zelensky has failed on his primary election promise to bring peace to Donbass. Since he was elected in a landslide victory in 2019, Zelensky's popularity has dropped significantly. In September, a poll revealed that just 22.2 percent of Ukrainians would vote for him as their first choice if he decides to seek reelection.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!