I agree
that both the president and the prime minister have lost a good deal of their
credibility over recent weeks as a result of the unparalleled attacks in
primarily the Ukrainian media and on Ukrainian television. It is sadly a fact that few publications in
Ukraine today publish political news without some form of incentive… so one has
to ask who is providing the incentives.
The
recent attacks on the prime minister are part of a long-running series of media
articles designed to discredit. Most are
based on rumor and hearsay.
No factual
evidence of wrongdoing has ever been provided. The most recent attacks show marked similarities therefore either there
has been a good deal of “plagiarism” amidst the journalistic profession or they
are originating from a singular source.
We all
know that politics is a dirty game but in a country where there are no rules or
controls over the honesty and accuracy of reporting we would all be unwise to
accept as factual accuracy what is mostly unsubstantiated gossip.
It is
not correct to cite that there has been no progress to break up the
oligarchies. The government took
UkrNafta away from Mr Kolomoisky and have moved it from a $3.4 billion annual
loss to a $5.6 billion profit in one year.
The
same can be said for the gas industry where Dmytro Firtash’s clever schemes over
the resale of domestic gas have been dismantled saving $10 billion a year and
now there are no intermediaries at all in the gas supply system.
All of
the top 50 state enterprises now have to undergo international standard audits
and the CEO’s will be selected by open tender.
To date some 80 percent of oligarchs have now registered their wealth and
assets with the tax authorities and many now see the wisdom of international
standards of accounting.
Even
small schemes such as the $15 million a year timber fraud in the Chornobyl Zone
have been stopped and there are hundreds of other examples. Does this mean that all the oligarchs are now
whiter than white? Certainly not, but there has been considerable progress.
Furthermore
we have a new police force that holds public respect, we have a new U.S. trained National
Investigation Service (FBI) and there are now two anti-corruption agencies. Where there has been little visible progress
is in the reform of the prosecution service and the judiciary which is the constitutional
responsibility of the presidential administration.
Until this is reformed little can be
achieved by the police, investigation service or the anti-corruption units. The real question is why is the administration
taking such a long time carry out what is their only real reform or is there perhaps
a need for this to be investigated?
As to
the comments on who should be the next prime minister frankly it is irrelevant
as it is not the government that is preventing reform.
Since this government came to power they have
submitted almost 3,000 bills to parliament for changes to legislation… only 300
have been passed. This is significant because
the coalition represents a majority in parliament so somebody in the coalition would
appear be deliberately causing the coalition to fail.
The question is who has most to gain from the
collapse of the Arseniy Yatsenyuk government?
There
is nothing to say that changing the prime minister will alter the situation in parliament.
Natalie Jaresko, for whom I
have the deepest respect, could send another 3,000 bills to parliament but there
is no guarantee that she will be any more successful than Yatsenyuk.
I believe it is the role of the speaker to
ensure that bills are passed therefore Volodymyr Groysman must accept a large part of
the responsibility for the current situation and again there is no guarantee
that he as prime minister would be any more successful.
Furthermore the reputational life of all prime ministers in Ukraine is around six months before the media wolves get to
work.
The
problem is that there are those in parliament that represent the interests of
their paymasters more that that of the nation and their constituents. Whilst oligarchic power has been greatly
reduced in the government it remains a major force within the parliamentary
party system. New elections will not
solve the problem as history illustrates that Ukrainian parliamentary elections
are little more than a reshuffling of old cards.
What the
nation needs is leadership; leadership in standing up to the oligarchs and
stamping our cronyism and manipulation , leadership in fighting corruption
through the rule of law and most of all leadership in restoring the faith of
the people in the democratic system.
We are
a nation at war, a nation of unequaled poverty and in a far from secure
financial position.
There is no time for
political games and those that indulge for their own personal enrichment should
be treated, irrespective of their office or standing, with the same contempt as
traitors.
