Poroshenko’s State Church

The 2019 election campaign was not looking good for President Petro Poroshenko. He had been swept to power after the epochal events of Maidan in 2014. In Ukraine’s two-round system, many candidates can run, with the top two vote-getters going to a runoff if neither cracks 50% of the vote. Poroshenko won over 55% of the vote that year, negating the need for a runoff. This was only the second time that had happened since Ukraine gained its independence in 1991.

Four years later, the polls told a much more somber story. In March 2018, his approval rating was plummeting and he was showing less than 10% support for his reelection – fourth place. Something drastic had to be done, and President Poroshenko had an idea. In 2016, Ihor Hryniv, a political strategist in his administration, proposed a campaign slogan: “Army. Language. Faith.” The slogan’s time had come.