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No candidate from the presidential party “People’s Servant” was elected mayor of major cities and regional centers, not even in Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s native country.
The People’s Servant won the municipal council elections in two large cities in central Ukraine, but in seven other major cities, the party remained in third or fourth place, according to two voter polls.
Local elections were seen as a test for Zelensky, whose popularity for the presidency has waned over the past year and a half.
Zelensky, a former comedian with no political experience, won the presidential election by a wide margin in 2019, vowing to root out corruption and end the war with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
His newly formed People’s Servant Party won a record victory by winning a majority in last year’s parliamentary elections, but in the absence of tangible results, the popularity of Zelensky and his party declined.
“His party is losing political leadership in almost every region,” analyst Mykola Davydiukas told AFP.
“It is a very painful blow for him,” Davydiukas said, adding that it could mean changes in government and even early parliamentary elections.
Voter turnout was 36 percent, according to the election observation organization Opora, up from nearly 47 percent in previous local elections five years ago.
“Unlike some of our neighbors, we have a great luxury: free elections,” President Zelensky wrote on his Facebook page, referring to Russia and Belarus.
“People we trust”
A poll published a few days before the election showed that only 17 percent. voters planned to vote for the People’s Servant Party.
The second place in terms of popularity was taken by the pro-Russian “Platform of the Opposition – For Life”, for which 14% promised to vote. the third, the pro-Western party of former president Peter Poroshenko, European Solidarity, with 13%. support from respondents.
In the controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Kiev, only 10 percent. voters planned to vote for V. Zelensky’s party.
The vote, which elected mayors, local and regional councils, did not take place in 2014 in the Crimean peninsula annexed to Russia and in the self-proclaimed “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk.
“We’ll see the numbers,” Zelensky said Sunday when asked about the popularity of his match.
“It is important that we choose people we trust,” he said, casting his vote. “It is a local election, it is important what these people can do in their area.”
Sunday’s elections were the first in Ukraine since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Manual disinfection stations were set up in polling stations and election officials wore protective gloves and masks.
People who went to the polls were asked to wear masks and keep their distance, and their temperatures were measured.
According to two polls, the current head of the capital and former boxer Vitaly Kličko has the best chances of winning the post of mayor of Kiev: more than 45% voted for him. voters.
If such results are confirmed, you will not have raised more than 50 percent. voting, a second vote should take place on November 15.
Kličko himself was unable to vote because he had to isolate himself due to a positive coronavirus test.
The final results must be announced by the electoral commission in three to five days.
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