With the discourse
rarely reaching beyond the names and short soundbites, such as Groysman is a close ally of President Petro
Poroshenko; Jaresko will be well-received by Ukraine’s international
creditors, we are falling into the same trap as contemporary electoral
campaigns around the globe. We don’t need to look much further than the current
primaries in the U.S., where soundbites eat policy debates for breakfast.
In this environment,
some in the Ukrainian political elites are taking sides, some are waiting it
out, and some are maneuvering behind the scenes to secure a seat in whatever
cabinet emerges. While I have my
personal preferences as an elected representative and as a citizen of Ukraine,
I think the more responsible approach would be to talk about what we want the cabinet to achieve, how we want it to work, and why we are
talking about changes in the first place.
“We ought to focus on principles, not personalities,” said Jaresko in an interview more than a month ago, following the resignation of Economy Minister Aivaras
Abromavicius, which was a reckoning point for Poroshenko, Yatsenyuk and the rest of the governing coalition.
I couldn’t agree more with Jaresko, and here
are the three core principles that I would identify: implementation, implementation, and implementation.
The new cabinet
needs to come in and implement the reforms that the people of Ukraine demand,
and the cabinet must hit the ground running, there will be no time to warm-up.
How, then, should we
proceed with the forming of a cabinet?
One Team: The current cabinet
is failing because it’s impossible to steer the ship when everyone is rowing in
various directions. There is no point in
asking who is rowing stronger and who has a better oar. The last thing we need now is to find a
skipper who will say: I did not choose this crew and I can’t get us to the
chosen destination. We will be back to
where we started, having wasted precious time.
Professionalism, integrity, and proven track record: if our goal is to implement the reforms everyone already
agrees on, rather than re-debate, re-arrange, and re-allocate, than our
measuring stick for the new cabinet members should be track record of real
achievement. I worry when we define
categories too narrowly, such as “we need more people from business,” or “only
new faces can be part of the future cabinet.”
Executive branches of the government must first and foremost be
competent in executing policies. Oratory
skills, personal loyalties, or political allegiances are not the parameters we
should consider for the cabinet positions; integrity and professionalism will
do the job.
Defined scope of real priorities: A recent example that comes to mind is Mario Monti stepping in
as a crisis manager and a prime minister with a razor-sharp focus on getting
Italy through a major economic crisis. Technocratic
government can only be successful if it is there for a defined term with a
defined scope of priorities. The people
of Ukraine have spoken loud and clear: tackling corruption must be Cabinet’s #1
Priority. What must, then, be done?
– Clean up the judiciary and
demonstrate zero tolerance for corruption in the Prosecutor General’s Office
with real action rather than window-dressing;
– Complete the privatization
process which was launched by Abromavicius; and
– Implement public sector/civil
service reform.
With a limited list of
predefined priorities linked to measurable outcomes, the next cabinet can and
will succeed.
Ukraine’s spiritual
leader – Lubomyr Husar – had said
it best: “we have to finish what’s been started with the
2nd Maidan [revolution
of dignity] and the 3rd one
won’t be necessary.”
During the last two
decades, the people of Ukraine showed more leadership than the political elites;
and they’ve helped course-correct when the government was running our economy
off the cliff and selling our future for personal enrichment. Many observers warn that another Maidan, in
today’s fragile environment, may lead to a complete collapse of the state, loss
of sovereignty, and much more bloodshed that we’ve already seen.
As a responsible member of parliament, I
will not support a superficial cabinet reshuffle for the sake of creating an
appearance of change.
Many in the world
support Ukraine, and we must not compromise their trust any further.
Only a qualitatively different approach to
the whole process of forming a new cabinet, which doesn’t involve horse trading
and backroom dealing, will help demonstrate to the Ukrainian people that the
leadership is getting the message.
If we
waste this chance to change the “old ways” in unrest, if we stick with “lyubi
druzi” criteria for the ministerial posts, we are risking the
future, if not very existence, of our country.
This we can’t afford, not this time.
