Ukraine heads to the polls

Ukrainians will head to the polls Sunday in a run-off election to pick the country’s next president.

Voters face a choice between Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent president, and television comedian Volodymyr Zelensky, new to politics.

The winner of Sunday’s vote will be elected for a five-year term as president.
The position holds significant powers over the security, defence and foreign policy of the country.

Zelensky, 41, is favourite in the polls, having dominated the first round of voting three weeks ago when 39 candidates contested the first phase of the vote. He won the first round with more than 30% of the vote , almost double what Poroshenko got when he finished in second place with 15.95%.

On Friday the two candidates appeared at Kiev’s Olympic stadium to debate for the first time.

The televised event was their first face-off after an usual campaign where Zelensky has primarily used social media to communicate with the voting public.

Via BBC