Tomas Fiala: Ukraine needs revolutionary, not evolutionary, reforms
To judge President Petro Poroshenko’s first year in office, we first need to clarify what we should take as a benchmark and what scope of responsibility we should consider.
The president rightly says that, in accordance with the constitution, he is primarily responsible for security and foreign policy. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has forced Poroshenko to devote the lion’s share of his time and energy to these two domains. However, since assuming the status as informal leader of the largest parliamentary faction last November, Poroshenko has also become responsible for selecting and appointing heads of parliamentary committees, government ministers, fiscal and law enforcement authorities, judges, regional governors, and so on. This means that he, in company with the prime minister, should take his fair share of responsibility for managing the economy, battling corruption, breaking up domestic oligarchy, and, ultimately, ensuring the success of structural reforms.