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Presidential campaign in Ukraine to be extremely dramatic, says analyst

Ukrainian political scientist Andrei Zolotaryov believes that the factor of strength has firmly established itself in Ukrainian politics and it will be actively used during the election process

KIEV, December 28. /TASS/. The forthcoming presidential campaign in Ukraine, beginning on December 31, will be extremely vigorous, dramatic and brimming with conflicts, Ukrainian political scientist Andrei Zolotaryov said on Friday.

"The forthcoming campaign will be ‘intriguing,’ if you wish, there can be no doubts about that. It stems from the economic, social and socio-political situation. The election is doomed to be extremely dramatic and vigorous," he said at a round-table conference in Kiev on Friday.

Zolotaryov believes that the factor of strength has firmly established itself in Ukrainian politics and it will be actively used in the election process. In this connection, he said, the main factor capable of pre-determining the election’s outcome will be the authorities’ decision to go to great lengths for the sake of achieving the desired result or for preserving conditions "for pure choice."

"Next, the notorious power resource. It will be used there where ideas and persuasion do not work," he said, adding that "the administrative resource is expected to be used very actively, too."

Zolotaryov warns that intimidation tactics will be certainly employed in the election race as well.

"All this is going to be comprehensive and massive," he said. In his opinion the forthcoming election will be fundamentally different from the previous ones.

"Also, the number of candidates will be unprecedentedly large and the process will be conflict-sensitive," he said.

On December 31, the official nomination of presidential candidates and the filing of registration documents will begin in Ukraine. The Central Election Commission is to be through with this process by February 8. Candidates are allowed to begin their election campaigns the day after they have been registered by the CEC. The campaigning is to end one day before the polling day, on March 29. The voting is due on March 31, 2019.

After that the CEC will have 13 days to officially authorize the election returns and set a date for the runoff, if necessary. The second round is to be held no later than April 21. In that case the Central Election Commission will be obliged to announce the official results no later than May 1 and inaugurate the president-elect by May 31.