CEC officials denied the popular movie villain's application

Apr 4, 2014 09:30 GMT  ·  By

A few days ago, we learned that Darth Vader was running for election in Ukraine's presidential race, but unfortunately for the Star Wars villain and his supporters, it has been revealed that his candidacy was rejected by election officials.

On Saturday, a man posing as Darth Vader showed up at the presidential election registration office in Kiev and announced his intention to run for presidency in the troubled country as the candidate for the Ukrainian Internet Party (UIP), promising to restore the country to its former glories.

“I am prepared to take responsibility for the fate of this country, if fellow citizens do me this high honor. I alone can make an empire out of a republic, to restore former glory, to return lost territories and pride for this country,” the presidential hopeful said at the time.

After less than a week, the Ukraine Central Election Commission (CEC) made a decision and, sadly, it wasn't a favorable one for the popular movie character, as the officials denied the Sith Lord’s application. It motivated its decision saying that it found irregularities in Darth Vader's paperwork and that parts of his application were “questionable.”

Moreover, officials said that the man dressed-up as the iconic movie villain, who became quite popular in Kiev during the winter protests, might actually be a 58-year-old electrician named Viktor Shevchenko.

Although Vader denies he is Shevchenko, local media outlets say the man legally changed his name from Shevchenko to Darth Vader on March 19.

CEC members believe that Darth Vader's candidacy might represent an attempt to discredit the upcoming elections in Ukraine.

Igor Zhydenko, a representative of the election commission said, “It might seem like an innocent joke. But for this joke someone paid 2.5 million hryvnia [$225,000 / €163,540]. Someone who benefit from turning presidential elections into a farce. We should also take into account the special attention of some Russian media to this story,” as reported by International Business Times.

This is not the first time the Dark Lord of the Sith is involved in politics in Ukraine, as he reportedly received about 3 percent of the vote when he ran as a write-in candidate for a spot in Parliament in 2012.

The Ukrainian presidential election will take place on May 25, and twenty-three candidates have been registered so far. The election brought forward following the ousting of the pro-Moscow leader Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after months of violent protests against his rule.