I appologize for the title, i couldn't help myself lol, but I promise you will chuckle at least once while reading this very interesting piece about the mayor of Ukraine's capital, Kiev. Very absurd I must say.  Nigerian politicians aren't the only ones with problems afterall.

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Is the Mayor Fit for Office? No Sure Answer
By CLIFFORD J. LEVY

KIEV, Ukraine

LEONID M. CHERNOVETSKY, this city’s unpredictable mayor, likes to answer his critics in his own special way.

When Parliament members said he was acting bizarrely and needed a psychiatric exam, he went to a stadium where he jogged for the cameras before yanking off his shirt and doing pull-ups. He swam laps and flexed his muscles like Charles Atlas. Then he held a news conference — in his tiny bathing suit.

“They are judging me today and want me to spend the rest of my life behind the bars of a psychiatric hospital,” Mr. Chernovetsky said. “Look at my body, at how I express my thoughts. I am absolutely healthy. I think logically and philosophically.”

True, he was in fine physical shape for a man of 57, though perhaps this was not the wisest strategy for proving one’s competence (see pic at the end of the article).

But that is Mr. Chernovetsky. Think New York City has had its share of outsize personalities as mayor? They have got nothing on Mr. Chernovetsky, who is also known as Lenny Cosmos because sometimes his head seems to be someplace far, far away.

He makes eccentric suggestions (a statue of Ukraine’s most famous poet should be erected in Africa) and staffing decisions (firing a zoo director for not finding a mate for an elephant), and personal gestures (offering to sell his kisses in a lottery).

He interrupts meetings by warbling melancholy Soviet ballads, and even issued a CD on which he covers his favorites. “Who sings better than me?” he asked. “Nobody does, besides God.”

And time after time, he does loopy things to prove that he is not loopy.

Politics in Ukraine is already a bit of a sideshow, what with the president and his rivals so estranged that the country still lacks a finance minister, which might be good to have in, say, a financial crisis.

Mr. Chernovetsky’s ability to retain his job, though, may be an especially telling sign of the breakdown in the political culture since the Orange Revolution of 2004, which brought to power a pro-Western government that has increasingly exasperated the public.

He is widely regarded as a problem. But the nation’s leaders cannot stop squabbling long enough to agree on what to do about him.

In an interview at his office, Mr. Chernovetsky dismissed complaints about his behavior, maintaining that he was misunderstood and had wide popularity.

He spoke of what he said were his accomplishments in Kiev, a city of nearly three million people: nurturing development, combating corruption and helping the poor.

He said he had carried out innovations like setting up an information hot line that has received millions of calls. He is given credit for improving the city’s greenery and restoring its historic sites. His backers say that as a result, Kiev, with its lovely cathedrals and old neighborhoods, has remained a charming city that continues to draw businesses and tourists, no matter the tough times.

“Everyone wants me to leave, except the people who elected me,” Mr. Chernovetsky said. “My voters are ordinary people, and I speak to them in one language, the language of ordinary people, even though, of course, I am not an ordinary person.”

Mr. Chernovetsky repeatedly returned to that theme, noting that he used to be an exceptionally talented businessman and lawyer who became a millionaire in banking.

“They have always called me crazy,” he said. “The thing is, crazy are the people who don’t understand that the future belongs to those who are not standard, who are open and vulnerable.”

Still, even in a relatively tame, 45-minute discussion in his office in Kiev, Mr. Chernovetsky seemed a little off. For much of the interview, he would not look at his questioner, speaking in almost a monotone while staring at the floor.

In public appearances, this bearing — combined with occasional bursts of exuberance — has prompted speculation that he abuses alcohol or drugs, or is on heavy medication. At one event promoting religious diversity, he slurred his language, pausing at length as he fumbled for the words for Judaism and Hinduism.

HE has denied the rumors about drugs and alcohol use, though it has not helped that he has taken short, unexplained leaves of absence.

Mr. Chernovetsky, who is married with two children, was elected in 2006 after supporting the Orange Revolution, and became known for courting retired people by strolling neighborhoods and handing out flour and other food.

There are three major political factions in Ukraine, led by President Viktor A. Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko and Viktor F. Yanukovich, a former prime minister. Mr. Chernovetsky, an independent, has at times built alliances with each. All three factions covet the mayor’s office but fear that removing Mr. Chernovetsky through something akin to impeachment would allow a rival’s candidate to take over.

In 2008, the Parliament, led by Ms. Tymoshenko, tried to unseat Mr. Chernovetsky by calling a special election. He won, after his opponents could not unify around a candidate and split the vote. He has since suggested that he might run for president.

His rivals have not let up, assailing him for supposedly mistreating city workers, bungling real estate projects and allowing utilities and other services to deteriorate. At one point, the subway system was threatened with closing because it was running out of money.

Above all, they said, his behavior makes Kiev look ridiculous.

At a protest in front of City Hall in the spring, Dr. Larisa Kanarovska, head of a doctors’ union, led hundreds of workers in calling for the mayor’s ouster. She recalled that when she met with him to describe troubles at hospitals and clinics, including the city’s failure to pay salaries, he responded harshly.

“He called us money-grubbing wolves, thieves and bandits,” Dr. Kanarovska said.

SHE said she had an inkling of why he did not like the doctors’ union. “We have diagnosed him as having some sort of mental illness,” she said.

Mr. Chernovetsky acknowledged that such attacks were unpleasant, but he said that he relied on his faith to bolster him, reading the Bible daily. He said he attends a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, though he said he was attracted to Protestantism.

The interview with Mr. Chernovetsky was over, though not before a little small talk. He imparted the secret of his full head of hair, explaining that the key was to rub it aggressively with a towel after a daily shower.

Then he said goodbye with a few parting words.

“I am not going to abandon politics,” he said. “I am not crazy. The pressure on me, that is the thing that is crazy.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/world/europe/15kiev.html?hp
Ukraine's political situation in brief: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/ukraine/index.html?8qa&scp=1-spot&sq=&st=nyt