Svitlana Zholobaylo,
program director
It seems like the majority of the candidates have some secret interest in this election. Probably they will trade their votes to others, leaving before the election one by one. The choice is very difficult, as within this huge amount of candidates it’s hard to find one you agree with.
Grygoriy Posmitnyi,
works for Naftogaz of Ukraine
A healthy society would not generate such a number of presidential candidates. In my opinion, this is a phenomenon that is a negative characteristic of our society. The choice is a manifestation of democracy, but this situation is at the extreme limit.
Olena Vlasova,
program manager
I don’t think it’s a good idea to have this range of candidates. Only some of them are well-known to the public. To my mind 10 or 15 candidates would be the sweet spot. All of them should have a strong campaign and clearly articulated ideas — so people could choose a candidate whom they actually support.
Vladyslav Tarashevskyi,
student
Obviously, it’s such a great idea to put quantity in front of quality. (sarcasm — ed.)
A large amount of candidates doesn’t actually guarantee the success of the campaign. On the contrary, it can even harm the whole process of voting. People simply wouldn’t know whom to choose. All of their campaigns look alike — a range of empty promises.
I believe that it would be much better to have primaries, so each party couldn’t present more than two nominees. So in this case, I don’t think that situation like this means democracy. Or maybe it does, just a very distorted one.
Olena Paripsa,
law student
To my mind, rather than democracy, this situation showcases a great deal of inconsistency in society, and among political forces. It is great to have a wide range of choices. However, none of them is a good fit.
Bohdan Homyak,
analyst
This situation showcases a wide range of manipulative technologies. I think that it is unrealistic for these people so have paid such a big election deposit (Hr 2.5 million, or $90,000) without having some hidden interest in influencing the voting process.
It would be a great idea to create a new election code for Ukraine. The one that we have right now is pretty weak.
The article was produced as a part of the Journalist Exchange Program by Media Development Foundation with the support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Content is independent of the donor.
