Poroshenko Could Well Become a Scapegoat for Ukraine's Troubles – Analyst

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko might soon learn that failing to deliver on major pre-election promises has profound and adverse consequences.

One of the country's wealthiest people campaigned on the promise to bring peace to the war-torn nation, carry out ground-breaking reforms and reach a much-needed national consensus. None of the campaign promises have been fulfilled almost a year since the election day, said Andrei Ermolaev, the director of the Institute for Strategic Studies "New Ukraine."

Ukrainians still expect changes "against the background of squabbles in the coalition, which fell short of Maidan expectations, against the backdrop of war, which Poroshenko mentions more often that his allies, against the backdrop of the discredited reforms with amplitude of programs and promises. But not much has been done," the political analyst told RIA Novosti Ukrainian Edition.

These developments or lack thereof have "become a fertile ground for growing distrust [in the country] that Poroshenko is up to the challenge, that he can acknowledge his mistakes, provide peace and consensus, carry out a truly efficient social and economic policy or at least put an effort to make this happen," Ermolaev explained.

Otherwise, there is a real danger that all this tension and disappointment will be pointed solely at Poroshenko in the near future, according to the expert.

On May 25, 2014, Poroshenko won Ukraine's first presidential election following a February coup in the first round securing 54.7 percent of the vote.

The poll was marred by political violence and threats against several prominent 'anti-Maidan' candidates, including independent candidate Oleg Tsarev, Party of Regions candidate Mikhailo Dobkin and Communist candidate Petro Symonenko, each of whom were forced to drop out of elections.