A divided vote

No matter who wins the presidential election in Ukraine, the violence and the widespread disruption of the voting process in the east of the country will overshadow the outcome.

Some 18 candidates contend for the presidency, representing a wide range of views. The favourite, however, seems to be billionaire Petro Poroshenko who has an about a 30-point lead over the next favourite, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

About 36 million Ukrainians are eligible to vote, but in the east of the country, where separatist rebels declared independence in open defiance of the central government in Kiev, and where many cases of intimidation were reported, Ukrainians may have a hard time reaching the polling stations or might decide to forego the election altogether.

The eastern part of Ukraine seems to have decided, clearly as per the separatists’ wishes, not to take part in the election and go its separate way.

There is no denying that Ukraine is a divided nation, with the east forced to follow a certain direction and show loyalty to Russia.

An encouraging sign from Russia was President Vladimir Putin’s decision to withdraw the about 40,000 troops along Ukraine’s border, whose presence was intimidating and a reason to worry for some former Soviet satellites.

Putin declared on the eve of the election that he would work with any elected leader of Ukraine. He also said that there is a real civil war going on in the country, failing to acknowledge, however, that his forces are actually behind the separatists and the troubles in Ukraine.

To conduct free and fair election, a country needs to enjoy normalcy, a prerequisite missing in Ukraine right now.

Under the circumstances, the winner of the elections will be inevitably accused of having been elected by only half of the country, deprived, thus of legitimacy and of the power to genuinely lead the nation.