Representatives of show business and famous athletes have been involved in Ukrainian politics long before Zelensky. Back in 1998, the famous footballer Oleh Blokhin became a member of parliament, and in 2006, the Eurovision winner, singer Ruslana Lyzhychko, became a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada. A year later, in the snap elections of 2007, the leader of the rock band “Okean Elzy” Svyatoslav Vakarchuk entered the parliament.
Like the Green Party, non-system politicians from among athletes and musicians did not distinguish themselves and no one remembers their legislative initiatives. Blokhin caught the attention of journalists only because, during his parliamentary activity, he changed factions five times, even becoming a communist at one point. Ruslana Lyzhychko was in the Verkhovna Rada for just a year. In 2007, after the dissolution of the parliament, snap elections were announced in which she did not participate. Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, however, made an unconventional move: a year after receiving the deputy’s certificate, he publicly announced his resignation.
Vakarchuk cited “continuous inter-party and intra-party disputes, which demoralize society within the country and undermine its authority” as the main reason for his resignation. He then delved into philosophy: “The only way to be oneself is to leave. Staying means running away for me.”
Surprisingly, voters liked Vakarchuk’s act. People understood it in the sense that the artist stands above political intrigues and was forced to leave politics to not participate in this dirt.
After resigning his deputy powers, Vakarchuk returned to his musical career, released several albums, and went on tour. He also periodically commented on political news on his Twitter in a somewhat lofty style, as if trying on the role of a spiritual leader. However, his philosophical statements appealed to voters. Over the years, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk has cultivated an image of an “honest patriot, sincerely concerned for Ukraine.” And most importantly, in the eyes of a significant number of Ukrainians, he was considered a non-system politician, not like the others.
In September 2017, rumors began to circulate that Vakarchuk might return to politics. The news that the singer was going to Stanford as a visiting lecturer for the fall semester sparked this speculation. Simultaneously with lecturing, Vakarchuk was to study as part of the course “Development of Ukrainian Leaders.”
As you can imagine, the title of this educational course worried many in Ukraine, primarily Kolomoisky and Zelensky, for whom the charismatic musician could shuffle all the cards. In case of his participation in the presidential elections, Vakarchuk could take many votes of the protest electorate, which Zelensky heavily counted on. Moreover, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk’s popularity could altogether question Zelensky’s victory.
After returning from America, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk began to be included in presidential ratings, although he publicly stated in April 2018 that he had no political ambitions. Despite this, the intrigue around the possible participation of the singer in the presidential election remained practically until the start of the election campaign.
In May-June 2019, after Zelensky’s victory, Kolomoisky revealed in an interview that in March 2017, he and Zelensky, after having a little drink late at night, called Vakarchuk. According to the oligarch, they asked the singer if he was ready to support Zelensky in the presidential elections. Although, in reality, this duo was worried about something else: whether Vakarchuk himself would participate in the elections as a candidate for the highest office. During this conversation, Vakarchuk was sleepy and did not answer the question.
On June 26, 2018, sociological survey results showed that Zelensky and Vakarchuk had practically the same chances of winning. As for the incumbent president, Poroshenko had the highest anti-rating among the first-tier politicians.
Three days later, a worried Volodymyr Zelensky published an open video appeal to the leader of “Okean Elzy,” Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, on his Instagram. In it, the comedian publicly asked the musician if he was ready to join him.
Zelensky’s concerns were entirely understandable. After a prolonged campaign to discredit Poroshenko, he no longer posed a danger to him, but Vakarchuk could spoil everything. Election modeling showed that the singer could realistically make it to the second round with Zelensky instead of Poroshenko. And if that happened, Vakarchuk would defeat Zelensky in the second round.
This whole story ended with Svyatoslav Vakarchuk not nominating himself for the presidential election and not supporting any candidate. However, three months after Zelensky’s victory, the leader of “Okean Elzy” suddenly changed his mind and decided to return to politics after all. In the snap parliamentary elections in July 2019, Vakarchuk’s party “Holos” received 5.82% of the voters’ votes and brought 20 deputies into parliament.
This time, Vakarchuk lasted in parliament even less than a year. In June 2020, he decided again to resign from his deputy powers. He cited the desire to implement a “large educational project” as his reason for this decision. Politics, supposedly, only interfered with these plans. However, over the following four years, no one saw the “large educational project” of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk.
>>> 14. Pre-election Promises and Features of Zelensky’s Electoral Campaign