We need to face the fact that for 20 years Ukraine has lived under an unspoken social agreement on the joint looting (along with the state) of the Soviet Union’s heritage. People at the top were allowed to steal billions, those in the middle got millions, and those at the bottom stole things like scrap metals from long-abandoned factories.

This happened throughout the whole country. Viktor Yanukovych is the clearest personification of the gangster-like essence of the social agreement that has caused Ukraine to fall victim to cynical pillage. Today, now that all the assets have been stolen, the system is grinding to a halt, and what was once stolen has to be stolen again to continue the violation of the unspoken social agreement.

The drivers of this process are law enforcers and courts that act with complete impunity. Thus, alongside robbery in the name of the ruling family (people close to the president), this refuse, dressed in police uniforms and robes of judges, practices criminal acts to satisfy its own interests and instincts. 

It’s impossible to improve the situation. It’s not enough to resist. Change is only possible by rebooting the entire system, by setting new aims for people, the society and the state. People have to undergo an internal cleansing. 

Society has to move from a colonial view of the role of an individual as a tiny screw only capable of searching for a good czar to one in which such individuals take charge of their own country. The state has to evolve to become a provider of services, not a yoke around every citizen’s neck.

As far as the law enforcement system goes, my personal experience on both sides of the barbed wire gives me the right to speak about the need for a full reconstruction of the police force and the courts. I know how it was done in Georgia, and I know why it hasn’t happened here.

The main problem is that we had no plan for how to change. Nor did we have a reform-minded majority in the Verkhovna Rada, which would be ready to accept the new rules. While old Soviet laws were still in effect, the police had no chance to transform into an effective, human rights-oriented body nor the courts – into an independent and honest platform for restoring justice.

What needs to be done? Disband the general prosecutor’s office, the interior ministry and the courts via presidential decree. At the same time, to prevent a legal vacuum, parliament has to approve a package of European norms for these institutions. 

Then, a special lustration commission would filter out all judges, prosecutors and investigators who have been implicated in human rights violations based on the rulings of the European Court for Human Rights. There are more than 1,000 such cases. This procedure would legally filter out the thousands of bad apples working as judges, prosecutors, and investigators.

After that, new personnel should be recruited with the help of a lie detector. This is not a fantasy: the FBI and CIA already use this practice, as do some Ukrainian banks. The new staff has to commit to declaring their families’ incomes and expenses every year, as well as attempts to frame through bribery. In exchange, they will receive employment packages ensuring high social standards. 

This wholesale replacement of the cadres, combined with sticks and carrots, worked in Georgia very effectively. 

I know that this plan, and my whole idea of a Third Ukrainian republic, seems unrealistic, a piece of fiction. But the world is moved by such ideas. Optimists see their dreams come true; pessimists have to live through their nightmares. I suggest that we remain active optimists.

Yuriy Lutsenko is a former interior minister, former political prisoner and one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution.