The imperfection of the Ukrainian political system, which allowed a populist to come to power, has a historical explanation. In countries with weak political institutions, leadership in all its manifestations often prevailed, where the sweet rhetoric of promises easily defeats the logical path of sustainable development. Almost all post-Soviet republics, with the exception of the Baltic states, have gone through a stage of authoritarianism or are in it now since the collapse of the USSR.
Since one of the reasons why democracy does not take root well in the countries of the former Soviet Union is the weakness of political parties, it is worth mentioning the recent primaries of the Democratic Party in the USA. If you followed the events of 2020, you surely remember that a significant number of Bernie Sanders’ supporters were highly negative towards Joe Biden. However, despite Bernie’s defeat in the primaries being a shock for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, they adhered to party discipline and, gritting their teeth, voted for Biden in November. Even the unofficial leader of the progressives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called on all her supporters to vote for Joe Biden in her Instagram. All Democrats understood that Trump’s victory would bring much more trouble.
Could a similar situation have occurred in Ukraine in 2019? Absolutely not. Any person capable of adding two plus two understood the danger of bringing Kolomoisky’s protégé to power. Especially politicians. But neither Yulia Tymoshenko, nor Arseniy Yatsenyuk, nor even Oleh Lyashko − none of the top politicians of the so-called Orange camp called for a vote for Poroshenko. Although, perhaps, they already understood that the acting president was doomed and Zelensky’s victory was guaranteed. Nevertheless, this did not stop many writers and other representatives of the creative intelligentsia from openly supporting Poroshenko. Politicians and public activists did not do this.
Despite all the antipathy towards President Poroshenko and his inability to fight corruption, it was clear that the Kolomoisky group represented a much greater danger to Ukraine. By analogy with the Democratic Party primaries in the USA, faced with a dilemma, logically thinking people should have chosen the “lesser evil” so that the country could avoid great trouble. But in Ukraine, almost all opinion leaders, except for the patriotic intelligentsia, decided to remain silent. They showed adolescent immaturity and essentially decided to hand over power in a warring country to a populist comedian from Kolomoisky’s TV channel.