Ukraine, Kiev – Last week, hundreds of Ukrainians gathered in various cities to protest the government’s plan to obstruct anticorruption watchdogs’ independence.
A bill that would revoke the independence of key authorities, such as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), was signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on July 22.
The country’s renowned protests led to the president of Ukraine to introduce a new draft bill to reauthorize the NABU and SAPO, which have been established to investigate high-level corruption and are widely regarded as a sign of democratic reforms.
Why, then, did Zelenskyy attempt to enlarge anticorruption agencies, and will his actions undermine public confidence in the government, which is crucial in a Russian-Russian conflict?
Ukrainians are protesting, but why?
Following the vote on July 22 in the lower house of parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, the country’s parliament, to approve the bill giving the prosecutor general the authority to oversee the two anticorruption agencies, protests erupted nationwide.
The president elects and approves the Verkhovna Rada, Zelenskyy’s Public Servant party, which is in control of the majority.
The two organizations, which were established in response to the pro-democracy Euromaidan protests in 2013 and 2014, were seen as a government effort to control them. Many consider it to be a fall from the years of reforms that came after Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in 2014.
The protesters carried banners with the slogan “Sham” on them! The new bill is praised by corruption supporters who say, “Don’t make a step back, there’s an abyss there.”
The rallies took place in both Kyiv and major cities like Lviv, which is known as Ukraine’s cultural capital, Odesa, which are both port cities.
Numerous senior officials and lawmakers, including those from Zelenskyy’s Public Servant party, have been the subject of investigation by NABU.
Oleksiy, who enlisted in the army in 2022, has a question about why he should continue fighting on the front lines of eastern Ukraine as officials practice corruption.
What’s the point of returning home if my family is encircled by corruption, the 42-year-old construction manager told Al Jazeera.
According to him, “Judges, officials, and even school teachers all say, “Give, give, give,” while requesting that his last name and details of his military service be kept confidential, in accordance with the wartime protocol.
Oleksiy, who is taking a break from his job to visit his two young children and ailing mother, participated in the largest anti-government demonstrations in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Zelenskyy supported the bill, why?
The prosecutor general’s office could access their information, transfer cases, and close down investigations under the new law, which also included executive control over NABU and SAPO.
According to NABU, the bill “could ultimately undermine the Ukrainian anticorruption system.”
Human Rights Watch deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, Rachel Denber, said the new law “risikos weakening Ukraine’s democratic foundations and its integration with Europe in the future.” She demanded that the law be repealed.
Zelenskyy, a former comedian and political novice who came to power in 2019 on an anticorruption ticket, argued that NABU and SAPO must “get rid of Russian influence.”
His claim came after two NABU employees were detained and charged with the wrongdoing anti-corruption campaigner Vitaly Shabunin.
Nearly 60 anticorruption and nongovernmental organizations filed joint appeals in Shabunin’s defense after his supporters claimed he had “evaded military service.”
There are two widely accepted theories as to why Zelenskyy introduced the bill, according to a political analyst in Kyiv.
One is that NABU’s head of the Penta think tank Volodymyr Fesenko claimed to have “closed in on Zelenskyy’s inner circle.”
In a deal that cost the government $ 24 million, NABU accused deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, Zelenskyy’s closest ally and lifelong friend, of taking kickbacks worth $ 346, 000 from a real estate developer.
Zelenskyy’s press office didn’t respond to Al Jazeera’s texts and phone calls.
Or is it an attempt to control NABU’s actions to avoid stoking them with overt politicisation and to end domestic political hostilities in the conflict with Russia, Fesenko said.
However, I believe it has to do with the NABU’s activism on political issues that might have sparked suspicion in Zelenskyy’s inner circle. He claimed that Zelenskyy’s political attack was more a political attack than a fight against corruption.
According to an anticorruption expert, Zelenskyy’s standing among local political parties has declined as a result of the protests. According to Tetiana Shevchuk from the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center, “there was a belief in his high and stable rating.”
She continued, noting that “he no longer can demand anything from the parliament.”
Zelenskyy fears NABU, which she claims is the only law enforcement agency that has the power to concentrate on him, because it won’t launch or end an investigation following a phone call from his administration.
Shevchuk remarked, “NABU is the only organization that doesn’t do that.”
According to Fesenko of the Penta think tank, the politicians “underestimated” the bill’s “negative consequences.” They “didn’t believe that the general public would respond so harshly.”
The top anti-corruption investigator in the country has praised Zelenskyy’s decision to submit the new bill.
However, NABU director Semen Kryvonos predicted that corrupt individuals would launch a “dirty information campaign” against anti-graft organizations.
Meanwhile, protest leaders promise to hold rallies only tentatively until later this week if the bill is passed.
Attempts have been made to eradicate endemic corruption since the 2014 pro-democracy revolution or Revolution of Dignity.
There are many administrative procedures that are less time-, money-, and nerve-intensive.
However, corruption continues to permeate the justice system. In Transparency International’s corruption index, Ukraine is ranked 105 out of 180.
A corrupt judge may revoke his work, according to a criminal investigator who spent months compiling a number of lawsuits against a fraudster who duped several lawmakers.
Under the condition of anonymity, the investigator stated, “We can’t guarantee any judge’s honesty.”
Meanwhile, corruption has increased as a result of Europe’s worst armed conflict since World War II.
Some officers extort bribes from service members for allowing them to leave or visit a hospital, and they also steal foreign aid, such as clothes and shoes that end up on store shelves rather than the front lines, from employees.
According to serviceman Oleksiy, who participated in the protests, “if someone reports such an officer, they may end up in a suicide squad on zero position.” These positions are most likely to be attacked by enemy drones.
Officers charged with carrying out the conscription campaign are accused of accepting bribes to mug people out of the country. Conscription officers have been detained, and some have cash holdings worth millions of dollars, euros, or even gold bullion.
After scandals involving exorbitant prices for military products like ammunition, food, medical supplies, and winter clothing, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was fired in 2023.
Rustem Umerov’s replacement, according to NABU, is the subject of an investigation into alleged power abuse.
Will foreign aid be impacted by the restrictions on anticorruption organizations?
Due to the new law, the European Union announced on Sunday that it would freeze $1.7 billion, or a third of its most recent aid package for Ukraine.
However, Lt. Gen Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces, believes that military aid from the EU and the US is unlikely to be cut.
However, the demonstrations reveal a shocking contrast between the corrupt officials who continue to thrive on corruption and the hundreds of thousands of front-line service members who dodge the draft.
Source: Aljazeera
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