Comic leads as Ukraine votes for president

Kiev: A comedian whose political experience is limited to playing the president on TV is likely to top the first round of voting as Ukrainians go to the polls.

Actor Volodymyr Zelensky’s bid started as a long shot, but he has leapfrogged establishment politicians amid public frustration over corruption and stagnating living standards.

The 41-year-old star of the political comedy Servant of the People is polling above 25%, well ahead of his nearest rivals.

Polls opened at 8am yesterday, with exit poll results expected at around 8pm and first preliminary results several hours later.

If Zelensky wins the presidency, he will lead a country of 45 million people that in recent years has known war, loss of territory and uprisings, and remains one of the poorest nations in Europe.

The main question now is whether incumbent Petro Poroshenko or former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko will meet Zelensky in a runoff next month.

One recent survey put them neck and neck at around 17%, though another showed Poroshenko pulling ahead of ally-turned-foe Tymoshenko to make the second round.

Zelensky acknowledged that he had “no experience” but insisted that he could lead Ukraine.

“I don’t have all the knowledge but I’m learning this now,” he said.

Critics point to the vagueness of his manifesto, the key pledges of which were chosen following a public vote on social media.

Some accuse Zelensky of acting as a front for the interests of oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, who owns the channel that broadcasts the entertainer’s shows, but he denies any political links. — AFP