More than a month before the official start of the presidential election campaign, the nation is already bombarded with candidates’ ads.
The official presidential election campaign kicks off on Oct. 19, but it looks like it’s already started on Ukraine’s streets. Some candidates plastered most of the outdoor advertising space with billboards. Others are organizing concerts to drum up youth support. The law does not clearly state whether such activities are illegal before the official start of the campaign.
Starting in mid-summer, former parliament speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk has been trying to persuade the voters that his is the savior of the nation (2), while activists from his Front of Change hand out newspapers filled with interviews with the leader and explaining his program (5).
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is trying to convince the population that she is the only official in the country working for their welfare (3), and has recruited many popular singers for an all-Ukrainian tour to help her deliver the message. Ruslana (1), winner of 2004 Eurovision song contest, opened the first concert of the tour that kicked off in Kyiv on Sept. 11.
Front-runner of the presidential race, Victor Yanukovych, has chosen another strategy: He promised to hear every citizen out through a hotline advertised on many billboards all over the country (4). “Your opinion is important,” the message reads.
Banker Serhiy Tihipko advertises himself as the one who knows the way out of the economic crisis (7). Ex-foreign affairs minister Borys Tarasiuk claims he is the only one the voters can trust because his party, Narodniy Rukh, played a significant role in Ukraine’s independence movement (5).
