Clean Sheets And Flowers For Barrels

The world over, outliers are capturing political power, breaching bastions with populist siege techniques

- Pranay Sharma

UNTIL recently, few outside Ukraine knew about Volodymyr Zelenskiy, even though his hugely popular sitcom Servant of the People, is now into its fourth season—a ‘must see’ for most Ukrainians. in the serial, Zelenskiy—one of the best-known comedians in the country—plays the role of an honest history teacher who, through his rant against the system and subsequent popularity through social media, is catapulted as president. now, in an instance of supreme irony, people in Ukraine and elsewhere have begun to wonder if real life is going to imitate ‘reel life’. For, if the current political trend continues, from April 21 onwards it is Zelenskiy who will be anointed as President of this geo-strategically important country along the Black Sea coastline on Russia’s doorstep.

The Ukrainian comedian may not be the only upset winner in the forthcoming presidential polls if he upstages current president, 53-year old Petro Poroshenko in the second round of elections. In the first round, Zelenskiy, who polled 19 per cent, pipped both Poroshenko (16 per cent) and Yulia Tymoshenko. The first two now face off on April 21.

In Slovakia last week, voters opted for Zuzana Caputova, 45, a rights lawyer with little political background, over the ruling leftist Smern social-democratic party candidate, Maros Sefcovic. In doing so, Slovakia, which broke away from former Czechoslovakia in 1993, elected its first-ever female president.

The same trend—a relative political outsider storming a well-defended bastion—was seen in late last year’s election in Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain and a far-right party leader, who has defended the military rule in Brazil (1964-85) that killed thousands of leftist workers and supporters, became president, ending the 14-year rule of the Worker’s Party.