Volodymyr Zelensky intends to conduct lustration of high-ranking officials who worked under his predecessor Petro Poroshenko. The corresponding document was prepared by the team of the head of state, according to the website of the Ukrainian president.
It is assumed that those who, from February 23, 2014 to May 19, 2019, President of Ukraine, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Prosecutor General, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Head of the Antimonopoly Committee and the State Property Fund, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, heads of the state fiscal service and customs, as well as heads of defense enterprises. It is also proposed to extend lustration to government members and deputies.
“We are accused of wanting to abolish lustration. So that everyone understands that we are not going to cancel the lustration, we suggest strengthening it, ”Zelensky emphasized.
The President of Ukraine noted that the bill provides for a public assessment of the persons who held the above posts. "I am confident that the actions of all designated persons will receive a fair legal assessment in the future," added Zelensky.
The head of state explained that every day of his presidency he was thinking about how to deal with these officials.
“I communicate with officials of different levels every day and I understand that this is a hopeless diagnosis ... I think the least thing that can be done now is to deprive them all of all of the opportunity to participate in government, forever,” Zelensky added.
- © Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters
“The problem is who will be put in their place”
Recall that in Ukraine, in 2014, Petro Poroshenko passed the law On the Cleansing of Power, which actually marked the beginning of lustration. According to the document, persons who held senior positions for more than a year during the period from February 25, 2010 to February 22, 2014 were removed from public service. The list included those who held their posts for less than a year, but if this period included the period from November 21, 2013 to February 22, 2014, and they did not quit.
The list also included employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor’s Office, investigators, investigators and operational officers who carried out operational actions against the participants of the so-called “euromaidan”.
At the same time, in 2014, many professionals were excluded from the civil service, said Ukrainian political analyst and economist Oleksandr Dudchak.
“Then, in the wake of this terrible coup, swindlers and gangsters came to power, then many professionals were fired, simply because they worked in the structures of power. It is evident that the country lacks professionals. Because then people were appointed on the basis of their political views and loyalty to those who organized the coup, ”he told RT.
Poroshenko’s administration officials deserved to be brought to justice, according to Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma for CIS affairs, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots.
“They brought the country to a standstill, and the citizens of Ukraine refused to trust them. Today they are behaving arrogantly and defiantly, imposing their will, including Zelensky, ”he told RT.
If Ukraine "gets rid of" these officials, then it will not harm her, Dudchak is convinced. However, the expert stressed that it is still unknown who will come to the place of the dismissed.
“The problem is who will be put in their place. Because such a leadership is being made up, which will promote the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and global corporations, which are already preparing to finally crush Ukraine into small pieces economically, ”the political scientist added.
“Report Future Retribution”
Representatives of the Ukrainian parties condemned the initiative of Zelensky. Thus, the source of RT from “European Solidarity” (the former “Petro Poroshenko Bloc”) considers the statement a pre-election maneuver.
“People voted for Zelensky, because they believed that he could restore justice. Reduce gas prices, stop the war and put corrupt officials. No one has yet been punished, which is why it was announced about the lustration of officials. The decision will be made by the Verkhovna Rada of the next convocation, the process itself will be delayed. But the main thing is to inform the voters about the future retribution for corrupt officials, especially before the parliamentary elections there is only a week left, ”the source said.
Vladimir Zelensky does not show real, but only makes loud statements, the RT source agreed in the “Self-help” party.
“Lustration is not the most important step now. The party “Servant of the People” has the highest rating, so it can form a coalition and offer decent people to deputies. Nobody asks to appoint corrupt officials, especially since everyone knows their names, ”the interlocutor of RT asks.
A representative of the Batkivshchyna party expressed the opinion that the initiative of Vladimir Zelensky would completely destroy the lustration process.
“All those who did not undergo lustration last time, have been reinstated in their posts through the courts. Moreover, to lustrate the new president offers the Poroshenko team, and what to do with the team of Yanukovich? Logically, the next president will initiate sanctions against the current president’s team? ”The deputy stressed.
- Deputies at an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in Kiev.11.07.2019
- RIA News
“Dual situation”
Demanding the lustration of officials working under Poroshenko, Zelensky creates a legal conflict, according to a RT source in the Popular Front party.
“He offers to lustrate all former deputies. But many of them will fall into the new Rada. How does he propose to do this? But the most interesting thing is that the environment of Zelensky himself will have to lyustrirovat. I remind you that Alexander Danilyuk (Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. - RT ) worked as the Minister of Finance, and Aivaras Abromavicius (head of the supervisory board of Ukroboronprom. - RT ) - Minister of Economics. They will have to be fired in the first place, ”the representative of the Popular Front recalled.
Intending to lustration of all deputies, Zelensky and his team blamed Poroshenko’s mistakes and those who were in the opposition, said the head of the Ukrainian Analytical Center, economist Oleksandr Okhrimenko.
“That is, the situation is twofold. Representatives of Zelensky often in general in their statements unite Poroshenko and the opposition bloc. That is, blame for the problems in the economy, the war in the Donbass impose on Poroshenko? and on the opposition bloc. This is absurd, ”he told RT.
This approach is connected with the fact that those who were the opposition of Poroshenko and his associates, now became the opposition to Zelensky, Dudchak said.
“Now people are convinced that they, having rolled through Poroshenko’s elections, did not get anything, they see the continuation of the same policy. Therefore, the opposition deputies are now, perhaps, the only force for which all those who wanted to remove Poroshenko will vote ... Therefore, he is trying in some way to discredit the opposition forces, ”the expert suggested.
Recall, the Verkhovna Rada in the current convocation has repeatedly demonstrated a refusal to support Zelensky’s initiatives. Deputies voted against the first initiatives of the president, and also refuse to dismiss officials who are not satisfied with Zelensky. So, during a vote on Thursday, July 11, she was glad she refused to dismiss Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin.
Among the parties represented in parliament there are no representatives of the presidential “Servant of the People”. However, two weeks before the election, the Zelensky party retains its leadership in opinion polls. Thus, according to the results of the research of the sociological group “Rating”, 47% of Ukrainians are ready to vote for the party “Servant of the People”, while the closest competitor is “The Opposition Platform - For Life” - 11.6%.