It has been one year since Volodymyr Zelensky won a landslide victory in the presidential election, taking an unprecedented 73 percent of the vote on April 21, 2019.
And although Zelensky’s real first anniversary as president will only take place on May 20 — one year after he took office — he has started summing up his achievements already. So will we.
Traditionally, a Ukrainian president is expected to give a press conference after one year in office. However, due to the COVID‑19 pandemic, all such events are on pause. Zelensky promised a press conference after the quarantine is over.
For now, Ukrainians were offered a 50-minute film about Zelensky’s first year. Featuring clips from Zelensky’s moments of success and a sincere yet boastful interview he gave to an off-screen interviewer, the film recalled similar “documentaries” about the achievements of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. But Zelensky’s version was more energetic and charismatic, we’ll grant him that.
Zelensky’s first year was anything but boring. He restarted peace talks with Russia, found himself in the center of the U.S. impeachment scandal and saw Iran take down a Ukrainian passenger plane. Now he has to lead Ukraine through the worst global pandemic in 100 years. That would be overwhelming for an experienced politician, let alone for a novice like him.
Unlike some commentators, we’re not exceedingly negative on Zelensky’s first year. He’s had quite a few achievements, and we acknowledge that.
Under Zelensky, Ukraine’s parliament has finally established a free farmland market, albeit a more limited version than needed. It has also lifted lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution, but starting with the next parliament. It established an imperfect procedure for impeachment. Finally, Zelensky’s administration oversaw three exchanges of prisoners with Russia and its proxies.
We will also grant that he navigated the U.S. impeachment scandal well with little damage to Ukraine.
But there were plenty of failures.
Zelensky’s approach to personnel management and hiring has been disappointing. He has shown that he doesn’t stand up for his team members who are under attack from oligarchic interests, while blindly standing up for those accused of corruption. He let ex-Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka and ex-Prime-Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk go, with public humiliation.
Zelensky’s recruiting took an interesting turn when he invited ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to join the government as deputy prime minister. One can’t imagine that the provocative Saakashvili would peacefully subordinate to Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, a low-key newcomer. He will shake things up, that much is clear.
Among Zelensky’s other sins was his silence about the corruption scandal involving his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. He has also been disappointingly silent about pro-Russian agents in Ukraine, such as Viktor Medvedchuk, who has amassed formidable media influence with his three TV stations. On April 22, they broadcast Zelensky’s anniversary film, along with other big stations.
If Zelensky were elected president of a stable, developed country, his efforts in the first year would have been enough. But for the president of a struggling nation on many fronts, he needs to do better.
