Will Ukraine’s Jewish president have the last laugh?

STEVEN GRUZD

In a run-off election landslide against the incumbent, Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky, the popular TV satirist won 73% of the national vote. He prevailed in all but one of the country’s 25 oblasts or regions.

While Poroshenko has stridently and repeatedly denied claims of having Jewish family roots, Zelensky has never hidden his Jewishness, although he is not observant. Besides Israel, Ukraine is now the only country to have a Jewish president and prime minister – Volodymyr Groysman was elected prime minister in 2016.

“Zelensky being Jewish was a total non-issue in these elections. It was not something people cared about. It was mostly discussed in media coverage from the West,” said Yarik Turianskyi, an analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs who closely follows Ukrainian politics. “An overwhelming majority of Ukrainians across the board voted for him, knowing about his Jewish origins.”

Zelensky became famous by participating in a popular university comedy game show stemming from the Soviet era that combined improv with prepared skits, and later went on to form his own TV entertainment company.

A few years ago, he produced and starred in the TV series Servant of the People, where he plays a high school history teacher who becomes the president after a video of him ranting against politicians goes viral. Through the show’s various seasons, the TV president has had to deal with parliament and oligarchs undermining him through all manner of political machinations, back-stabbing and ruthlessness. This is a real case of life imitating art, as Zelensky has already faced these sorts of challenges, having stepped out of the studio and into the nation’s top job.

This celebrity status was at the core of his appeal. “It would be the same as if Trevor Noah wanted to run for president in South Africa,” said Turianskyi. “Zelensky has an equivalent status in Ukraine. Noah appeals to all racial groups, and mocks politicians from across the political spectrum. In the case of Zelensky, he too appeals to almost everyone, spares no-one, and bridges traditional divides such as being Russian or Ukrainian-speaking.” Born in the eastern Ukrainian industrial town of Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky is himself Russian-speaking.

Turianskyi characterises Zelensky’s brand of humour as “sharp and edgy political satire” and said, “His election is a rejection of traditional politicians, and shows just how fed up the voters in Ukraine are.”

He will face many more challenges, including promoting greater transparency and openness in government, tackling entrenched vested interests with a lot to lose if change comes, and the threat of a resurgent Russia on the country’s eastern flank. In an early test of his leadership, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Russian passports to those living in occupied eastern Ukraine. Zelensky retorted by saying he would offer Ukrainian passports to Russians.

Zelensky is not the only celebrity recently to assume high office. Guatemala elected comedian Jimmy Morales in 2015. Former footballer George Weah is president of Liberia. Ex-cricketer Imran Kahn is president of Pakistan. Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan had two terms as president of the United States in the 1980s, and Donald Trump really came to the public’s attention through his role on reality TV show The Apprentice.

Zelensky is also not the only Jewish leader of a non-Jewish state. There have been 30 non-Israeli presidents and prime ministers who have Jewish roots, including in Austria, France, Italy, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

In a tweet, Max Seddon, a Russia-based Financial Times correspondent said, “With a win like this for Zelensky – a non-practicing Jew – Ukraine is now the first country outside Israel to have a Jewish president and prime minister at the same time. Perhaps Russia will have to rethink five years of propaganda about how the country is full of Nazis!”