The first stage of selection of head of National Anti-Corruption Bureau is over. A total of 161 people filed their documents to apply to head the new agency that aims to fight corruption at the very top. The deadline closed on Feb. 11.
But the following day the parliament made a move to weaken the agency’s independence by introducing a new procedure for audit of its work and simplifying dismissal of the head by the president and the parliament. The move was immediately slammed by the anti-corruption watchdogs as a sign that the parliamentary coalition does not have political will to tackle trouble at the top.
On the good side, some of the candidates for Anti-Corruption Bureau chief appear to be very strong. Among them is Halyna Klymovych, a former top investigator of General Prosecutor’s Office and Viktor Chumak, deputy head of parliament’s anti-corruption committee.
“I’m happy that these candidates applied. It immediately raises professional level of the competition,” says Vitaliy Shabunin, chairman of the board of Anti-Corruption Action Center, a think tank. “When such professionals as Klymovych are taking part, it will be very hard for the commission (which selects the candidates) to suggest to the president somebody who is less qualified.”
The resumes will now be studied by vetting committee of nine people appointed through a complex procedure by various government organs. Three of the candidates will be recommended to the president, who will make the choice which the parliament is to approve.
Former investigator Klymovych was in charge of the investigation of the 2004 case of near-fatal poisoning of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko. She, however, never got a chance to finish because she resigned in 2010, soon after Viktor Yanukovych was elected president, citing unlawful intereference by officials.
Klymovych refused to comment on her decision to apply. She had announced her decision on her Facebook page, saying it was an “experiment.”
“I have no illusions and going as a litmus test for a chemical reaction, which will show the real intentions of the authorities. However, if something fantastic happens and our authorities show their readiness for changes, with my civil duty everything will be fine and many corrupt officials will choose to emigrate,” she said.
Another applicant, Chumak had authored the law on Anti-Corruption Bureau. “I spent two-and-a-half years developing and advancing this law. I go by a very simple rule – nobody can do what you invented better than you,” Chumak says. “The commission has to have a wide choice, if there are many good candidates, it will be easy for them to select two or three (best ones),” he says.
Former head of the Ukrainian Institute for Public Policy and department of political analysis and security at the International Center for Policy Studies, Chumak is considered a reputable expert in Ukraine on security and defense, Constitution, and law enforcement . He served in senior positions in Ukraine’s state border guard and armed forces of former Soviet Union. In parliament, he is a member of Petro Poroshenko’s bloc.
The vetting commission started reviewing the resumes on Feb.12. Viktor Musiyaka, co-author of Ukraine’s Constitution and member of the commission, says that it might take several weeks to finish, but hopes the commission will be able to suggest three best candidates to the president by March.
Kyiv Post staff writer Anastasia Forina can be reached at [email protected]
