Stadium as a place for debates

Some Russian Lessons of Ukrainian Democracy

To write from Moscow about the 2019 Ukrainian elections is to do something ambiguous. There were no competitive elections in Russia for twenty years, and the result of the irremovability of power was the moral catastrophe of 2014. Speaking about the current Kyiv democracy, one can be ironic along with the “experts” of Russian TV over Ukrainian presidential candidates who need to prove something ridiculous to each other and to their voters. Or you can envy a country where, despite the problems with the economy and the war, the elections are held on schedule, and there are no irreplaceable politicians.

It is clear that Ukrainian democracy is not perfect. Poroshenko accumulated a high anti-rating during his first term. Zelensky has launched a very controversial, postmodernist campaign centered around the comedy series Servant of the People: this seems to be a new word in political technologies. It is all the more important to pay attention to one story that unfolded at the start of the struggle for the results of the second round (recall, the name of the new president of Ukraine will be known on April 21). This story is connected with possible debates of presidential candidates.

Before the first round, the three favorites of the presidential campaign refused to participate in direct debates with each other. Only Yulia Tymoshenko appeared on the air of the Public Television, on which, according to the current law, debates should take place, she made a short speech and left the studio. Through social networks, Ukrainian voters pushed candidates to participate in debates, especially this campaign intensified after the announcement of the results of the first round.

As befits a showman, Zelensky professionally plays with the audience. On April 3, he published a video message to Poroshenko, in which he challenged his competitor to a debate, while setting several conditions. No restrictions on the participation of the media and questions from journalists and the exclusion of epithets like “clown” and “Kolomoisky’s puppet” in his address.

Zelensky could not resist and played a low populist card, calling for mandatory drug testing of participants before the debate.

At the beginning of the video, Zelensky energetically walks along the corridor, and by the end it becomes clear that this is the sub-tribune of the largest and most modern Ukrainian stadium, Olimpiyskiy, the home arena of Kyiv Dynamo. During concerts, it can accommodate up to 100,000 people. The video ends with a punchline: Zelensky invites the competitor to meet for a debate in front of his voters at the stadium. “Think… those,” Zelensky throws into the frame the ironically played slogan of Poroshenko’s election campaign.

In Russia, they would give a lot to see with their own eyes the debates of the incumbent president with some of his young critics, who also claim the highest post of the state and at the same time were not withdrawn from the race due to “incorrect registration”. And even for Ukraine, this situation seems to be somewhat overkill. On the evening of April 3, commentators argue that Zelensky is too insolent and that Poroshenko needs to refuse, “so as not to stand on a par with this clown,” or offer his own conditions.

From the Russian experience, this situation is perhaps most reminiscent of Navalny's challenge to a duel by General Zolotov - as much as Zolotov can, of course, resemble Zelensky.

On the night of April 4, Poroshenko's response video appears. It was filmed without any special scenery, just next to the government building. Poroshenko at first noticeably loses to a competitor in cheerfulness, he looks tired. But he finds the right words: Ukraine needs a president and commander-in-chief who will take his duties seriously. Poroshenko sees his difference from his competitor in the plane of foreign policy: only he will continue to lead the country to the West. Instead of the expected counterproposal on the "choice of weapons", that is, on changing the terms of the debate, the incumbent president surprises Zelensky and agrees to meet at the Olimpiysky: "But the stadium, so the stadium."

Watch this video, it is very revealing in order to understand how democracy works in the modern world. It is not very important what Zelensky and Poroshenko's motivation actually is. Placed in conditions in which they are forced to compete with each other for votes, they are, firstly, forced to listen to people's opinions, secondly, to try to convince doubters, and thirdly, to adapt to a changing situation, to make a political choice. The advantage of democracy is not that it is the rule of excellent democrats, but that it has a procedure for withdrawing the people's trust from any politician. What in political theory is called the principle of elite rotation.

In this sense, there has never been democracy in Russia over the past 30 years, since our democrats have never lost an election.

But within the framework of Ukrainian democracy, businessman Petro Poroshenko, lacking stars from the sky, is forced to speak like a republican leader, calling for the common good.

Further, Ukrainian experts begin to discuss whether the debate at the stadium is really possible from the point of view of the law. No one even thinks that before April 21, for the sake of the president, laws can be changed.

We are used to thinking that Ukrainians are culturally similar to Russians - the common Soviet background, they say, affects. But it seems that in recent years there has been a long farewell scene - and not only because of the war.