Ukraine to inaugurate comedian Zelensky as presidentBy The Manila TimesKIEV: Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky steps into his new role as Ukrainian president with his inauguration on Monday, launching a new era for the country wracked by war and economic difficulties. A month after scoring a landslide victory against incumbent Petro Poroshenko in polls, the 41-year-old becomes Ukraine’s youngest post-Soviet president. So far little is known about his precise policies after a campaign that capitalised on public disillusionment with the political establishment and promised to “break the system.”Uniquely for a first-time president, Zelensky has played the scene before — for laughs. The new president will immediately have to deal with a number of sensitive international issues, giving him a foretaste of the challenges lying ahead. Many observers in Kiev saw this as Moscow issuing a challenge to Zelensky and he strongly condemned the move.

Source: Manila Times May 20, 2019 03:22 UTC