© Europost/Business Recorder
Comic Vladimir Zelensky • President Petro Poroshenko
in the first round of Ukraine's presidential election. He'll face the beleaguered Western-backed president, Petro Poroshenko, in a run-off.
Forget geopolitics for a moment. Because, for those on the ground who did the heavy lifting, Ukraine's 2013/14 Euromaidan was about removing the corrupt post-Soviet elite. Thus,
it always seemed bizarre that the chief political beneficiary was a billionaire who'd served as a minister in the two detested previous administrations.
Make no mistake, the original Maidan protesters believed their efforts would sweep away the old ruling class. And they fell for promises of swift Western integration and pledges of reviving an impoverished economy. Instead, it all rapidly turned cynical and
they got a US-imposed interim administration. Washington's point-woman Victoria Nuland declared "Yats is the guy," and Arseniy Yatsenyuk quickly became caretaker PM.
Soon after, the West backed Petro Poroshenko in a presidential election which amounted to a showdown with ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko, which the former easily won.
So, if Euromaidan was a revolution, its result was strange. Something akin to Marie Antoinette's baker taking over France in 1793.
Here we are five years later and
just 9 percent of Ukrainians have confidence in their government. Which is the lowest mark on the planet. And down from 24 percent during the tail-end of the Yanukovich era. Meanwhile,
average wages have fallen to US$320 a month, deaths far exceed births, taxes have increased, and gas prices have risen dramatically.
Comment: There seems to be a whole lot going on here to sow confusion. It appears the powers that be in Israel want war-criminal Benny Gantz in power, and a bit of chaos and confusion is needed to unseat Netanyahu.