President Viktor Yushchenko recently ordered the Interior Ministry to begin cracking down on motorists who use sirens on their vehicles without permission. Both citizens and visitors to the country’s capital may be tempted to sigh in relief as they recall how many times they have been forced to hug the curb to make way for an unidentified sedan with tinted windows sporting a flashing blue light on its hood and accompanied by an obnoxious sound as it speeds across one of Kyiv’s busier avenues.
No one is sure who’s in these cars, but that’s not really the point. If it’s not a seriously ill person being rushed to hospital, or a police patrol on its way to a crime scene, no car should have a siren. Top cop Yuriy Lutsenko has charmed the public with similar appeals to public indignation, including the promise to do away with special license plates used by officials on their autos.
As a result, Mr. Lutsenko has achieved some popularity among Ukrainians not much unlike that enjoyed by former Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, who is also always going after the priviledges of corrupt officials. “To Jail with the Bandits” was one of the slogans of the Orange Revolution, which all three politicians played major roles in over a year ago.
Since then, many Ukrainians and others have lost more than a little faith in the slogans of 2004, but that hasn’t deterred Yushchenko, Lutsenko or Tymoshenko from successfully playing the favorite card of any revolution – promised punishment of the people’s persecutors.
Tymoshenko is no longer in government and can thus promise what she likes. As for Lutsenko, the more crimes he exposes, the better his job security. Exposing criminal activity and stopping it are two different things.
During the recent parliamentary elections, President Viktor Yushchenko and his team were punished for disappointing the people’s expectations of justice – such are the rules of politics. Tymoshenko, Lutsenko and others might get to feel the people’s disappointment somewhere down the road. But for now, it’s more important that top officials go after real corruption, which costs the state billions of dollars rather than distracting people with petty crimes that are more visible and symbolic but less serious consequential to the country.
