KIEV, April 5. /TASS/. Ukraine’s incumbent, Pyotr Poroshenko, has in fact lost to his rival Vladimir Zelensky in Ukraine’s presidential election and the forthcoming debate will in no way influence the opinion of the electorate, Ukrainian political analyst, former parliament member Alexander Doniy said on Friday.

"He (Poroshenko) has failed the presidency test. He fueled very negative trends. And he has no chances to win the election. In the meantime, his entourage keeps telling him a great deal will depend on the debate. A vast campaign has been launched in the social networks and in society to prove such a discussion is very necessary," Doniy said in a commentary to the online media resource Glavred.

The analyst believes that Zelensky has turned the debate into a funny game, thus forcing Poroshenko to play according to his rules.

"Whereas before the president had used personal insults - right after the first round he labeled Zelensky as ‘Kolomoisky’s puppet’ - now he looks as a ‘puppet of a puppet’ himself. He has agreed with all of Zelensky’s conditions - debates at a sports stadium and medical tests. And so on and so forth. Zelensky has in fact lost the pre-debate round," Doniy says with certainty.

The analyst believes that Poroshenko’s team hopes for his great talent of an actor and that the incumbent president will be able to speak beautifully, though insincerely.

"But I doubt that he will be able to persuade anybody. Some members of Poroshenko’s entourage are linked with the authorities. The language for them is more important that the struggle against corruption. I don’t quite see whom he is going to persuade during the debates," Doniy stated.

In his opinion another reason why the voters will go to support Zelensky is that in contrast to Poroshenko he has never participated in political shows.

"That’s the effect of ‘non-political politicians’ - the less this or that person is associated with intrigues, quarrels and political skirmishes, the greater the chances he will remain outside the focus of the protest electorate’s attention. The people are tired of honeyed talk," Doniy said.

Under Ukrainian legislation the debate is to take place on April 19. A candidate’s refusal to participate in unpunishable.