They tried to fool people into thinking that they would break up the oligarchy, create a rule-of-law nation and punish lawbreakers. They have done nothing of the kind. Instead, they have diverted, stalled and obfuscated by creating new, weakly staffed and dependent “anti-corruption” institutions rather than dismantling the corrupt institutions – police, prosecutors, courts – that should be doing the jobs.
The result is no progress against murder or punishing major financial crimes. The two leaders have signaled they have no intention of removing parliament’s immunity from criminal prosecution and that they have no intention of demanding that law enforcement investigate Yanukovych’s old cronies as well as members of their own factions.
Poroshenko would need to be impeached or forced into an early election before the next scheduled one in 2020. Yatsenyuk is easier to remove as nobody elected him to the post, except for parliament.
The battle to replace him is taking place behind the scenes. It should be taking place out in the open. Poroshenko is said to be considering Volodymyr Groysman, the speaker of parliament, as prime minister. This would be a mistake that will do nothing to restore the public’s confidence. He is a Poroshenko loyalist.
If he is not, he should lay out a case in public for why he would be the best prime minister, who he would seek as ministers and how he differs from the failing and flailing Poroshenko.
The same should apply to Natalie Jaresko, the finance minister who is the favored choice of Westerners and many Ukrainians to replace Yatsenyuk.
She would be a far preferable candidate, in our view, to Groysman, despite her drawbacks. But she needs to tell people why she deserves the job, if she wants it, who she will surround herself with and what she will do. It’s not enough to say “I’m a technocrat” and above politics.
The next prime minister must break the grip of oligarchs, lawbreakers and crony capitalists obstructing Ukraine’s path to a Western democracy. Having a new prime minister won’t be enough. The nation needs a new parliament and, if pressure won’t force Poroshenko to stop being obstructionist-in-chief, a new president. Elections are the way
