After the Revolution of Dignity, also known as the EuroMaidan Revolution that drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2014, there was hope that the government will consolidate society to build a dream country of millions of Ukrainians which will be based on a sound democracy as stated in Article 1 of The Constitution of Ukraine. This would turn Ukraine back on its path of modernization along with the rest of the world. Let’s not forget that Rus-Ukraine existed before the Pereyaslav Treaty. Unfortunately, these hopes were in vain. Today’s Government has all the traits of clannish-oligarchic autocracy which is destroying the economy forcing people to emigrate and turning those who stay into beggars.
This is making Ukraine week in the face of internal and external threats. The worst of these are deindustrialization, the demographic crisis in which Ukraine is losing a catastrophic amount of people who are the backbone of a nation’s economy and military might, and Russian aggression.
The Ukrainian president’s strength lies not in additional authority but in experience, professionalism and political will. Using the Constitution and rule of law as the foundations, especially enforcing them on politicians and oligarchs, he will be in a position to carry out irreversible democratic changes, to ensure the country’s safety and a decent living standard of Ukraine’s citizens.
Should the people put their faith in me, I will use all my will, experience and my team of professionals to stop further impoverishment of Ukrainians, put up a proper fight against external aggression, and get key victories that will ensure the development of democratic foundations and the revival of Ukraine as a strong independent European nation.
The first victory. Restoration of stability and governance of the state
I will immediately direct all resources to unite Ukrainians and defend the sovereignty of Ukraine of which the main efforts will be focused on:
— taking actions to eradicate poverty in Ukraine which will include the removal of corrupt pricing practices for electricity and utilities; initiating income tax relieves for family businesses;
— introducing tax incentives for the middle class as a foundation of democracy in Ukraine; and creating jobs which will encourage Ukrainians to work in Ukraine, and emigrants – to come home;
— forming effective mechanisms to return annexed Crimea and de-occupy Donbas through diplomatic and economic channels of international influence, first and foremost in the framework of commitments taken on by signatories of the Budapest Memorandum;
— introducing the real reforms in the Ukrainian Armed Forces by increasing their battle and operational capabilities and creating decent service and living conditions for the military, veterans and their families;
— increasing the quality of government institutions by hiring unaffiliated professionals – “the golden resource of Ukraine” based on their knowledge, experience and personal characteristics;
actually enforcing current legislation on preventing indicted corrupt politicians from fleeing the country and the siphoning of illegal assets.
The second victory: returning Donbas and Crimea
As a professional, I know that victory is possible through economic development, improving Ukrainian’s living standards, and increasing battle capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces together with movement towards the Euro-Atlantic community.
The format of signatory countries of the Budapest memorandum of 1994 will become the main forum for political and diplomatic events and actions with a goal of making the aggressor stick to its commitments of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine’s borders.
These rights of Ukraine are integral and are based on the 1969 Vienna Convention on International Treaties Law. Ukraine will utilize all international judicial instruments to ensure that this international treaty is implemented by all nuclear-wielding signatories.
I will guarantee the military safety of the nation with the assistance of highly effective safety and defense sector of Ukraine. As the Head Commander I will focus on:
— respecting our military’s most valuable resource – the lives and honor of our servicemen; decent financial and other ways of support for Ukrainian warriors on par with neighboring NATO countries; eradication of corruption in the defense sector; solving the housing problem for the military;
— coordinated reforms of military and law enforcement authorities under democratic public supervision and making sure that politically unaffiliated professionals are defended from the influence of political parties and clans;
— ensuring the compliance with NATO standards which will help to obtain the Alliance Membership Action Plan;
— gradual transition from mixed recruitment of the Armed Forces towards creating a professional national army by increasing the quality, motivation and compensation of military service; creating operative and strategic Territorial Reserve Armed Forces;
— providing government support to internally displaced persons from annexed Crimea and occupied territories of Donbas, government assisted loans and regulation of property disputes between the financial institutions and these citizens.
The third victory. Defeating corruption
I have the will, the knowledge and a plan to destroy systematic corruption in Ukraine:
— I will direct law enforcement to ensure the rule of law with swift punishment for corruption;
— I will push for stricter legislation on penalties for business activities while working in public office;
— I will strictly control the finalization of creating the Anti-corruption court ensuring the integrity of judges through the hiring process and supervision of their activities by both government and public anti-corruption organizations;
— to ensure the effectiveness of NABU and legal clarity of the responsibilities for fighting corruption in Ukraine, I will push for the transfer of the duties of the National Agency of Preventing Corruption and most of the functions of past units for fighting corruption to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine;
— I will initiate the creation of government commissions on: investigating money laundering cases since 1991 with the retrieval of illegal assets; investigating of the activities of the National Bank of Ukraine during the past five years; investigating cases of dirty privatization;
— I will push for transparency and clarity in financing political parties and that financial sponsors do not determine the parties’ political agenda;
— I will introduce systemic amendments to the legislation on the removal of economic foundations of corruption and will push for more engagement of Anti-Monopoly Committee.
The fourth victory. Restoration of the Ukrainian middle class as a pillar of the sovereignty of the nation
A mission of most importance for the Ukrainian state is to create an environment where a strong middle class could rise, which should consist at least of 50 percent of the population:
— the middle class should include not only representatives of small and medium businesses but also academic and cultural circles, doctors, teachers, civil servants including military servants, and qualified manufacturing workers, even those who are already retired, based on income levels, education, cultural enrichment and remuneration;
— an effective system of property rights enforcement which will include working legal mechanisms to prevent legal seizure of property in Ukraine will be formed;
— a system of social lifts and preferences to help the nation’s citizens to realize their natural talents and become productive members of society must be created. This will ensure that society is not further socially unfairly divided and that the youth and professionals do not leave the country which decreases the productive social capital of Ukraine. This is my strategic priority.
The fifth victory. Economic restoration of Ukraine
As president, I will put the needs, will and safety of citizens above all else. Human potential must be increased by government stimulus of education, academics, culture, health protection and support of families.
Therefore, I consider the following as the main direction of activities of a president:
— deoligarchization, demonopolization, deoffshorization and legalization of economic activity, restoration of socially just property rights, in conjunction with government incentives for small- and medium-sized businesses;
— government regulation and stimulation, nourishment and development of high-tech and innovative manufacturing, venture and investment projects;
— land reform and proper management of land transactions with the interest of Ukrainian citizens as the top priority, establishment of a National Land Bank and its regional offices;
— the assurance of Ukraine’s energy independence built on the foundation of renewable and environmentally friendly sources of energy, modernized nuclear power production and government stimulus of natural gas extraction in Ukraine;
— introduction of the national environmental program “Clean water, clean air, clean nature”;
— facilitation of financial compensation by bank owners to deposit holders, should their banks fail;
— turning the economy from a resource-based form to a value-added on with a focus on high-tech along with systematic restoration of environmentally damaged areas.
The sixth victory. Reform of Ukraine’s political system
Ukraine is unable to become economically, militarily and politically strong without reforming its political system, therefore Ukraine must implement:
— a democratic model in which a clear line between responsibilities of the President and the Prime-Minister should eradicate any conflicts of political interests in the management of executive power;
— systematic and consolidated amendments to the legislation in such a way that the provisions of the Constitution would become the de-facto norm of direct legal action in Ukraine’s courts;
legislation that the President of Ukraine should only have immunity while he or she is in office. MPs should only have immunity against prosecution for their political decisions and political statements. Legislation on a transparent impeachment procedure will be enacted to enable political over the president’s actions;
— legislation that would compel the President, upon termination of his or her term in office, to address the Verkhovna Rada and Constitutional Court of Ukraine with a Report on how the Constitution and legislation of Ukraine were upheld during the presidency;
— a completed administrative and territorial reform that will solidify the unity of the state while simultaneously deeply decentralize and transfer most domestic functions of the nation to local self-governing authorities;
— legislation on raising responsibility of local self-governing authorities for actions that were canceled or deemed illegal by courts;
— reform of human resources management that will provide for clear division of duties and responsibilities between politically appointed individuals and career professionals who are legally banned from political affiliations.
The seventh victory. Building real democracy in Ukraine
The above=listed victories should compose the foundation to build democracy in Ukraine based on three contemporary principles.
The first principle – a necessary conditions for its existence is the presence of a critical mass of a well-off middle class with a high level of political culture.
The second principle – as many state functions as possible must be delegated to local self-governing authorities. Effective electoral practices, accountability, and transparency of government institutions as well as the equality of citizens in the face of the law can be guaranteed only if the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power are separated.
The third principle – a necessary condition for political stability in a democracy is the existence of at least two main political parties that are founded on the democratic ideology, as opposed to individual-centered ones, which includes providing legal defense of politically unaffiliated civil servants against possible partisan or clan influence from the politicians.
Only the implementation of these laws can guarantee the realization of Ukraine’s historically defined national idea that is based on three mutually complementing principles:
God, Freedom, Family and Ukraine are the highest spiritual values of the Ukrainian people;
Culture, Science, Land and Private Property will eternally feed Ukraine;
Democracy, Social Justice, Rule of Law and the Army will always defend the rights of Ukrainians to lead free and happy lives and will guard the unity and independence of the nation.
It’s an honor!
Ihor Smeshko, a candidate for Ukrainian president in the March 31, 2019, election, was head of the Security Service of Ukraine from 2003-2005 and worked in Ukrainian Military Intelligence from 1992-2003. He is now a private businessman.
