The controversy over Ukraine's plans for decentralization were front and center at the Yalta European Strategy forum in Kyiv on Sept. 12, when a panel discussion on the topic saw a scandal erupt between a speaker and audience members.
Sergiy Lyovochkin, a lawmaker from the Opposition Bloc tied to ousted President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, was interrupted by audience members when he began to comment on the issue of decentralization.
At the YES forum on Sept. 12, lawmakers Sergiy Leshchenko and Svitlana Zalishchuk were among those protesters who stood up during Lyovochkin’s speech and defiantly held portraits of the Heavenly Hundred, EuroMaidan Revolution protesters allegedly killed on orders by the Kremlin-backed Yanukovych. Instead, the murders in January and February 2014 intensified opposition to Yanukovych so much that he fled Ukraine on Feb. 22, 2014.
Lyovochkin, who had served as chief of staff in Yanukovych’s administration before resigning in December, responded by calling for a minute of silence for the Heavenly Hundred, a move which drew boos from the crowd and indignation among participants.
Zalishchuk said the incident exposed the reason why many were so opposed to decentralization – because it could be seen as surrendering power to political bodies tied to the Kremlin.
“How can we be sure that decentralization will enable justice when we have just seen a lawmaker who worked for the administration that had Maidan protesters killed stand up and ask for a minute of silence for them?” she asked at the end of the event.
Lyovochkin, who is affiliated with political forces trying to retain influence in the Russian-occupied territories, was in the minority at the event.
Rather than commenting directly on the issue of decentralization and delegating more authorities to local government, Lyovochkin complained that his party was experiencing discrimination and being squeezed out of the political landscape altogether. He argued that decentralization must be implemented as part of the Minsk agreements, which were the only way to resolve the conflict in the east.
Legislation on decentralization triggered violent protests in Kyiv on Aug. 31.
Three National Guardsmen were killed when a grenade was thrown outside parliament that day after lawmakers approved the bill in its first reading. Many believe the law will give the upper hand in Russia’s war against Ukraine to Kremlin-backed separatists in the east by granting them more autonomy.
But Volodymyr Groysman, the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, argued in favor of decentralization, saying it would be “inappropriate not to act” this way in this situation and calling the amendments “truly European” and the only way to bring about proper government.
While Groysman and many others have argued that decentralization will root out corruption and allow democracy to flourish by spreading power out among the regions, others fear it will allow the occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk to completely break away from Ukrainian control. The legislation allows those territories “special status” as part of the Minsk agreements, which will allow them to install their own leaders – leaders some say will inevitably be Kremlin-backed.
Serhiy Taruta, a lawmaker and the former head of the Donetsk regional administration, conceded that there was cause for concern over the legislation but said it was a necessity for today’s Ukraine. “These decisions are painful and they need public discussion … but if these are obligations approved by Europe and they’re necessary today, we are obliged to make such decisions,” he said.
He said that decentralization was an entirely separate issue from reclaiming the occupied territories in Donbas, and that approving of decentralization didn’t necessarily mean surrendering territory.
Aleksander Kwasniewski, former president of Poland and a chairman of the supervisory board of YES, said decentralization was the only way to democracy.
“The core of democracy is a decentralized system, the core of an authoritarian state is centralized power,” Kwasniewski said. “If you want to be a democratic state, it’s necessary to decentralize and give more power to the people,” he said, adding that decentralization would allow civil society to flourish.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, agreed, saying he had often encountered problems in Kyiv that could easily and quickly be solved by Kyiv authorities but wound up being drawn out by unnecessary bureaucratic requirements.
“We have to spend months on end agreeing on things with the Cabinet of Ministers,” he said, when the situation could be resolved much quicker if left up to local authorities.
Decentralization is a “necessity of the times,” he said, noting that “only authoritarian states have centralized power.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Allison Quinn can be reached at [email protected].
