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[smjjames]

The hell Wall Street Journal? Why do I have to login to read the whole article?

I suppose since he is already a billionaire, he might be less prone to corruption? I know theres no logic in that, but Ukraine badly needs a non-corrupt leader.

[Owlbread]

The hell Wall Street Journal? Why do I have to login to read the whole article?

To aid you in your hour of need I have stolen the article from them.

Spoiler: Try this (click to show/hide)

With Ukraine's presidential vote less than a week away, front-runner Petro Poroshenko says he knows the first step to pulling together the fractured country: Elect him in the first round of voting.

Ukraine's survival, he says, all but depends on it.

It is a message the 48-year-old billionaire and politician has been repeating as he hopscotches across eastern parts of Ukraine in his private jet with his wife and a clutch of advisers. His message resonates with a worried public in Dnipropetrovsk, not far from regions further east that have been declared separatist republics by pro-Russia militias.

It remains unclear whether the Chocolate King—Mr. Poroshenko's nickname because of the Roshen confectionary empire he owns—can surpass the 50% threshold of votes required on Sunday to prevent a runoff against his rival and second-place candidate, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

One recent poll suggested he would get 54.7% of the vote, which would deliver him a first-round victory, but earlier polls have said otherwise. A runoff, Mr. Poroshenko has warned, would likely spell months of delays when Ukraine can't afford any more uncertainty.

He is running for president in a country that has lost territory in Crimea and gained a separatist pro-Russia rebellion in the east—all in the three months since pro-Europe demonstrators in the capital toppled former President Viktor Yanukovych.

Mr. Poroshenko emerged as perhaps the brightest leader after those demonstrations and built a campaign promising to meet the protesters' demands for a political overhaul. But he has now found himself fighting for the survival of his country.

Whether the next president can end politics as usual in Ukraine—with its oligarch clan warfare, deep-seated corruption and paralyzing infighting—will be a key factor in Kiev's bid to move toward Europe and avoid further encroachment by Russia.

A win for Mr. Poroshenko would place the country in the hands of a veteran of Ukraine's sordid political arena who has earned a reputation as a deal maker prepared to ally with lawmakers of all stripes. Supporters say that experience gives him the skills to maneuver and execute pressing reforms. Critics say his history signals a return to the same old politics that for years have hobbled Ukraine.

"He doesn't have an ideology," said Oleh Rybachuk, a civil activist and former Ukrainian deputy prime minister. "Does he have managerial capabilities? Yes he does. Does he have political instincts? Yes he does." A spokesman for Mr. Poroshenko declined to make the candidate available for an interview.

Ukraine's Presidential Contenders

    Petro Poroshenko: Nicknamed the "Chocolate King," the billionaire owner of the Ukrainian confectionary firm Roshen has served as foreign minister, secretary of the national security and defense council and trade minister.
    Yulia Tymoshenko: Known as Ukraine's "Orange Princess" for her role in the 2004 Orange Revolution, the former prime minister was released from prison after former President Viktor Yanukovych was toppled in February.
    Serhiy Tihipko: Mr. Tihipko is a billionaire banker and member of Ukraine's parliament who at times was allied with Mr. Yanukovych and in 2004 ran his presidential campaign.
    Anatoliy Hrytsenko: A member of Ukraine's parliament, the longtime military man served as minister of defense in a number of administrations, including when Ms. Tymoshenko was prime minister.

Mr. Poroshenko is certainly one of the country's foremost political survivors. The chocolate magnate supported then-President Leonid Kuchma in the late 1990s and early 2000s before joining the movement that toppled him. He then served as foreign minister under former President Viktor Yushchenko—the godfather of his daughters and Mr. Kuchma's successor. Later, he became trade minister under Mr. Yanukovych before leading the pro-Europe protests that toppled him in February.

Despite this veteran status, Mr. Poroshenko's campaign slogan—"Live Differently!"—promises a break from the past. He pledges to salvage Ukraine's economy by following a trade pact with the European Union and an International Monetary Fund recovery program.

He says he has plans to make Ukraine so prosperous that Crimeans "will realize their mistake" and return on their own. To solve the crisis in the separatist regions of the east, he has proposed using force against the rebels, whom he calls terrorists, and changing the constitution to appease residents of those regions with more autonomy.

Still, many residents of Ukraine's east say they don't plan to vote because no candidate represents their interests, calling into question whether the presidential election can help unite the fractured country. Separatists, meanwhile, have vowed to prevent the vote in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Elsewhere, some see Mr. Poroshenko as the best, if not ideal, choice. "Whether people like him or not, most think he is the least bad of the alternatives," said Andrey Bogatyryov, chief editor at Populyarnaya Gazeta in Dnipropetrovsk.

Born in a town near the Ukrainian border with Romania, Mr. Poroshenko found success in business after the Soviet Union's collapse, initially by importing cacao and later building a candy company that became Ukraine's largest. His sweeping business interests grew to include a bus maker and television station. In early 2013, Forbes magazine's Ukrainian edition put his net worth at $1.6 billion.

Mr. Poroshenko, like most of Ukraine's presidential candidates, comes with political baggage. After entering parliament in 1998, he helped establish the Party of Regions, the political party that backed Messrs. Kuchma and Yanukovych. He broke with the party to ally with Mr. Yushchenko and support the pro-Western Orange Revolution in 2004.

The tycoon developed a deep rivalry with Ms. Tymoshenko, the Orange Revolution partner who bested him in 2005 for the prime minister post. Their conflict exploded into public that year with mutual recriminations that helped lead to the government's dispersal. He later served as foreign minister under Mr. Yushchenko and trade minister under Mr. Yanukovych.

It wasn't until last year, however, that Mr. Poroshenko's political fortunes truly began to rise. Russia banned imports of his Roshen chocolate, ostensibly because of its poor quality despite international certification. Many viewed the ban as an effort by the Kremlin to warn Ukraine against signing a European trade pact. The massive losses Mr. Poroshenko suffered built his profile and made him a face of the pro-Europe fight.

Then, Mr. Yanukovych refused to sign the European pact—which Mr. Poroshenko has said he wrote—causing thousands of people to protest in Kiev.

When some demonstrators attempted to use a tractor to break through police lines, Mr. Poroshenko climbed onto the vehicle and called for calm. Speaking through a small orange loudspeaker, his voice was barely audible amid boos and whistles, but the intervention shot him to the forefront among the protests' political leaders. He was the only one of the country's richest tycoons to throw his weight so clearly and forcefully behind the protesters' cause.

Boxer and political newcomer Vitali Klitschko, who had expected to be the main challenger to Mr. Yanukovych in 2015 elections, failed to become the clear leader of the movement against the president, in part because of his wooden speeches that did little to electrify the crowds.

After Mr. Poroshenko leapfrogged him in polling in March, Mr. Klitschko bowed out of the presidential race. He threw his support behind Mr. Poroshenko and entered the race for Kiev mayor. Mr. Klitschko's political team now works for Mr. Poroshenko's campaign.

Part of Mr. Poroshenko's appeal is his business background. Ukrainians may be suspicious of the country's tycoons, but they lately have been seen as a mainstay against Russian aggression, with a few appointed as caretaker governors of eastern regions. At each of his rallies, Mr. Poroshenko repeats that workers in his candy company make 7,000 hryvnia ($595) a month, a gob-smacking amount for most Ukrainians, whose average wage is around 3,300 hryvnia.

At a recent appearance, the tycoon and his squad of bodyguards waded through the audience to the stage. He then spoke for more than 40 minutes, rousing the crowd with promises to revive the army and the economy and raise living standards. Written questions from the crowd, putatively spontaneous, were the same as at other rallies: Why not ban the Communist Party? Why are the same bureaucrats in power as before? How will Ukraine regain Crimea?

Mr. Poroshenko explained: "There are no easy answers."

—James Marson contributed to this article.

[smjjames]

It sounds like he might be able to unite eastern Ukraine back in. Also, didn't Tymoshenko drop out (she's the one in a wheelchair I think?)? or was that a different politician with a similar name?

Hryshenko getting elected would probably just make the pro-russians shout JUNTA even louder. Tihipiko sounds too close to the old regieme. I know nothing about the political past of any of them other than what has been said here.

[XXSockXX]

Spoiler: Reply to Owlbread, also spoilered for convenience (click to show/hide)

My Gaelic teacher, a native of the Isles, went to Lake Hallstatt in Austria on a skiing holiday once. He marveled at how the ancient houses that are famously preserved there so closely resembled the old Scottish black houses, at least one of which was in use on his island when he was a boy.

Yeah, it's quite interesting how similar some traces of ancient culture are all over the continent. In that sense I think we can speak of a Pan-European ancient heritage. We have hill forts here similar to ones you'd find on the Isles, and megaliths from a culture that's even older than the Indo-Europeans.

Identities can be complex and multi-faceted.

Yes. On the other hand they can also all be deconstructed, so I think such an identity is always partially a choice, based on some kind of gut feeling.

Did you know that Germans actually wrote Highland Cathedral, one of the candidates for the Scottish national anthem?

Really? Sounds very Scottish to me (not just because of the bagpipes).

Continental people may have been far more mobile, I am unsure.

Some weren't at all it seems, some were because of the usual necessities, like military service or finding work, increasingly so after the Industrial Revolution. Then of course there were plenty of wars that displaced huge parts of the population, especially the 30 years war and the world wars.

Thank you, I'm still trying to iron it out though. I don't always get it right. Maybe I need to make a point of thinking this through and writing it down or something.

Well, I do think your approach works better if you're talking about Scotland, but with other areas your enthusiasm can lead you too far into traditionally nationalist territory.
Crimea would be such an example, where history has moved on in a way that it becomes difficult to combine civic nationalism with the historical Crimean Tartar heritage and the current demographics / Russian nationalism. I don't know whether that is too much idealism or lack of regional expertise or both on your part, but this is a thing where I'd say your ideas become somewhat inconsistent. The continent is full of similar regions, where any approach that emphasizes historical traditions too much would fail. Then I'm sceptical about civic nationalism working out in general yet, I see it more as a work in progress than a really established thing in most countries.
In Scotland all that might be less of a problem, you have strong traditions and a clearly definable cultural heritage, that has been able to absorb a lot of influences, helped by very clear cut geographical borders. For many generations people would rather migrate away from Scotland than to it, so there are no such problems as majority English areas there.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Poroshenko has a low anti-rating, unlike most other candidates. That makes him a good compromise for a troubled time. As for his billions... We Ukrainians chuckle when he says that he made all the money in the 100% legal way, it is not possible in a corrupt country

But, oligarchs vary. He is not a crimelord like Akhmetov (very nasty guy that has trail of murders from 1990s)  he is not a former commie like Tygipko (this guy "somehow" privatized some of Soviet industry for free and sold it for hundreds of millions). He wasn't involved in natural gas trading schemes  like Firtash

[XXSockXX]

Poroshenko has a low anti-rating, unlike most other candidates. That makes him a good compromise for a troubled time. As for his billions... We Ukrainians chuckle when he says that he made all the money in the 100% legal way, it is not possible in a corrupt country

I read an interview with him a few days ago (in German). Of course what a politician says on campaign isn't all that reliable (he also insists he's not an oligarch), but he seems relatively reasonable, aware of the country's problems (he wants to fight corruption and consolidate finances) and decisive but not too aggressive towards Russia.
Generally, a compromise candidate with a broad support might really be what is best now, so the country can consolidate.

[smjjames]

In your opinion though, is he the least corrupt? Ukraine badly needs a leader who isn't corrupt, or at least isn't corrupt to the level of Yanukshvenko and he is already rich, so he can buy a dozen mansions on his own cash. Not that it would be desirable behavior of a politician.

[misko27]

The problem is that Ukraine's problems are immense, and in general even successful democracies elect average leaders (with wide swinging in either direction), and average leaders can have trouble with immense problems.

[smjjames]

Gotta start somewhere though and it helps to have a politician who isn't corrupt

[misko27]

Gotta start somewhere though and it helps to have a politician who isn't corrupt

Yeah, I agree, but I've seen and researched many nations which sour on democracy immediately because they were promised that everything ever would become great and it didn't because reality ensues. And fixing things is hard and always promotes resentment.

[smjjames]

Oh for fucks sake, at the end of this article it says Moscow will still consider the government illegitimate. Just what do they define as legitimate

By their own standards, maybe their own government is illegitimate. /sarcastic sarcasm

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/19/russia-ukraine/9272269/

I was going to post it because it talks about the minorities, but then that sentence at the end. Russia isn't doing themselves any favors by calling an election illegitimate that thousands of observers are going to be at and those in the east have said they are going to try and sabotage the election in some way or other.

[Sergarr]

Well maybe if they didn't oust the Yanukovich one day after he left the Kiev for whatever reason, they would not be called "illegitimate".

[smjjames]

Well maybe if they didn't oust the Yanukovich one day after he left the Kiev for whatever reason, they would not be called "illegitimate".

Calling the current one illegitimate I can get, but this is a full election. There's going to be thousands of observers (including Russian ones maybe? Hopefully? Maybe just to keep an eye on the other observers I dunno) there to make sure that there aren't any irregularities.

Then there are those in the east vowing to sabotage or otherwise disrupt the vote in whatever way possible.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

In your opinion though, is he the least corrupt? Ukraine badly needs a leader who isn't corrupt, or at least isn't corrupt to the level of Yanukshvenko and he is already rich, so he can buy a dozen mansions on his own cash. Not that it would be desirable behavior of a politician.

Well, our former president is a role model of corruption so being less corrupt than him isn't hard. Yeah, I expect that Poroshenko will not build mansions all over country and that his son will not become a billionaire in one year.

Poroshenko looks, talks and acts  like a politician imported from EU unlike his majors opponents that are Soviet style.
I am not a pro EU by any means (I want Ukraine to become European Israel) but that is a good direction for now

[LordSlowpoke]

that is literally the worst thing you could hope it to become short of a broken or rogue state

explain why