Exit Poll: Candy Billionaire Petro Poroshenko Wins Ukraine Presidential Election
Bianca Ortega | | May 26, 2014 02:13 AM EDT |
(Photo : EPA / Sergey Dolzhenko) Ukrainian businessman and Presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko receives greetings from a supporter as he arrives to vote at a polling station in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 25, 2014.
Exit polls showed candy tycoon Petro Poroshenko has won as Ukraine's new president on Sunday and has promised to restore peace to the country.
The pro-Europe Ukrainian businessman who aims to restore ties with Russia won after an election that was conducted amid a weeks-long battle between the government and pro-Moscow separatists in the eastern region, according to Chron.
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The rebels had attempted to block the vote in the said region by threatening people, closing down polling precincts, and destroying boxes, resulting in the opening of only 20% of the polling stations. On a nationwide scale, 60% of the country's 35.5 million eligible voters were able to vote, according to the central elections commission.
The exit polls, which were conducted by Ukrainian survey firms Razumkov Center, Democratic Initiatives Foundation, and Kiev International Sociology Institute, found that Poroshenko got 55.9% of the votes among the 21 presidential candidates. Next in rank was former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who got 12.9%.
The full results of the polls are expected to be posted on Monday.
Claiming victory over the result of the polls, Poroshenko announced his initial plans as president would include visiting Donbass in the eastern region and restore peace to Ukraine. He also vowed to speak with eastern Ukraine residents and grant amnesty to people who did not commit crimes.
In recent months, Ukraine has been riddled with street protests following corruption allegations thrown at pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych. The election was conducted three months after crowds chased Yanukovych from his office and the state has launched attacks to quell the deadly uprisings in the east.
Poroshenko remained mum when asked if he was prepared to cooperate with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, but said Kiev is willing to discuss a new security arrangement with Moscow. Putin, on the other hand, has vowed to work with the new Ukraine president in a bid to avoid receiving new sanctions from the West.
Russia has denied allegations that it was responsible for the separatist uprisings in eastern Ukraine.
Poroshenko is known as a "good tycoon" in Ukraine because his efforts to build his Willy Wonka-like chocolate empire have been seen by people. Other Ukrainian billionaires prospered in post-Soviet privatizations.
The Ukrainian exit polls, which were conducted in 400 precincts among 17,000 voters, had a 2% margin of error and suggested that the candy billionaire achieved the 50% mark he needed for the presidential victory without a runoff.
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