There are many reasons to worry about Ukraine’s elections this year. The 2019 elections may be as defining as those in 2014, when Ukraine left the Russian world for good. However, so far, most analysts have missed two factors that may play an outsized role. First, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is not only a sitting minister but also a politician who wants to remain in power. The police force, which will oversee much of the conduct around the elections, report to him. Second, decentralization created more money and players on the local level, and these actors may exert a greater role as we approach the elections.
2019 Presidential Election
OP-ED
Mykola Vorobiov: Two big problems with Ukraine’s elections
Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov takes part in the Annual Collegium of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Jan. 27, 2018, in Kyiv.
