Fights Within Ukraine's Corruption Battle
A central element in Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's governmental policy is combating corruption and strengthening the rule of law. Tymoshenko is dead serious about this goal. She has stated that she will not run for President in 2009 if her government is able to implement reforms against corruption. It is an honorable goal, to be sure, but it is also an extremely daunting task.
There is evidence that corruption runs through all levels of government, from the local raions to the country's general prosecutor, parliament and possibly the judiciary. This battle recently came to a head when new Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko physically struck Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky over allegations of Chernovetsky's involvement in corrupt land deals.
Lutsenko is just as intense as Tymoshenko in his fight against corruption. On December 7, 2007, Lutsenko and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc deputy Svyatoslav Oliynyk introduced a parliamentary resolution to remove General Prosecutor Oleksandr Medvedko from office. The call for removal is due to Medvedko's failure to resolve high-profile cases such as the 2000 murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, the dioxin poisoning of now-President Viktor Yushchenko during the 2004 Presidential election, and high-level election fraud during the same campaign.
The problem lies not only with Medvedko, but with President Yushchenko himself. Very little progress has been made in the fight against governmental corruption since Yushchenko took office. Yushchenko's selection of general prosecutors has been completely inconsistent with his claims of wishing tot break with the Kuchma-era regime and fight corruption. Medvedko is aligned with the Party of Regions (PoR), and his appointment was part of a deal Yuschenko cut with PoR to end the spring 2007 political crisis that became a direct causal factor in the snap September 2007 Parliamentary election.
Yushchenko is stuck in the middle; he has to choose between protecting the Party of Regions and further inaction against abuses of office, or supporting his new Prime Minister. It will be very interesting to see how the corruption fight progresses throughout the year. It was only two and a half years ago that Yushchenko dismissed Tymoshenko as Prime Minister, partly due to her aggressive policies against corruption.
There is evidence that corruption runs through all levels of government, from the local raions to the country's general prosecutor, parliament and possibly the judiciary. This battle recently came to a head when new Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko physically struck Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky over allegations of Chernovetsky's involvement in corrupt land deals.
Lutsenko is just as intense as Tymoshenko in his fight against corruption. On December 7, 2007, Lutsenko and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc deputy Svyatoslav Oliynyk introduced a parliamentary resolution to remove General Prosecutor Oleksandr Medvedko from office. The call for removal is due to Medvedko's failure to resolve high-profile cases such as the 2000 murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze, the dioxin poisoning of now-President Viktor Yushchenko during the 2004 Presidential election, and high-level election fraud during the same campaign.
The problem lies not only with Medvedko, but with President Yushchenko himself. Very little progress has been made in the fight against governmental corruption since Yushchenko took office. Yushchenko's selection of general prosecutors has been completely inconsistent with his claims of wishing tot break with the Kuchma-era regime and fight corruption. Medvedko is aligned with the Party of Regions (PoR), and his appointment was part of a deal Yuschenko cut with PoR to end the spring 2007 political crisis that became a direct causal factor in the snap September 2007 Parliamentary election.
Yushchenko is stuck in the middle; he has to choose between protecting the Party of Regions and further inaction against abuses of office, or supporting his new Prime Minister. It will be very interesting to see how the corruption fight progresses throughout the year. It was only two and a half years ago that Yushchenko dismissed Tymoshenko as Prime Minister, partly due to her aggressive policies against corruption.
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