According to opposition Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who played a crucial role in exposing the corruption scandal, polls as yet unpublished now show Zelenskyy losing a further 40 percent of his support, suggesting his electoral base now stands at around 25 percent, making him a lame-duck president.
So low is Zelenskyy’s support and so damaging the effect of the corruption crisis that, speaking anonymously, individuals who have worked closely with the president and his inner circle have now hinted he may not seek a second term once circumstances permit a vote. It’s a possibility that’s bolstered by numerous reports stating Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska has long felt the president shouldn’t seek reelection given the extension of his current term and the toll his absence has taken on his family. Furthermore, the crisis has not only reduced Zelenskyy’s chances of reelection, it has also opened the field to new potential challengers.
But while public discontent with Zelenskyy is at a wartime peak, the Ukrainian public understands it would be perilous to engage in destabilizing mass protest amid modest Russian territorial advances — a responsible civic position that was confirmed to me by Serhiy Sternenko, a firebrand civic activist with millions of followers on social media.
And though Zelenskyy’s position as president remains secure given the wartime setting, as a lame-duck president his main aim must be to restore public confidence in the government, ensure the functioning of an effective parliament, and demonstrate to the international community that Ukraine is being governed both effectively and transparently.
To achieve these goals, Zelenskyy would be well advised to begin wide-ranging consultations with civic leaders, anti-corruption experts and the patriotic opposition, aiming to create a technocratic government of trusted officials. He also needs to dismantle his highly centralized presidential rule by limiting his own powers to the areas of defense, national security and foreign policy, and by drastically reducing the powers of his team of presidential aides. This could be done by transferring their domestic and economic policy responsibilities to a restructured government and parliament instead.
The fact is, if Zelenskyy doesn’t act, others may do it for him.