Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky awaits the arrival of Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham ahead of their bilateral meeting at Horodetskyi House on Aug. 24 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Henry Nicholls – WPA Pool /Getty ImagesArticle content“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” said Mihaylo Fedorov, until recently Ukraine’s defence minister. “We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism which will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war.” Seven years after the last election, some Ukrainians are demanding a new one.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentArticle contentThe protesters who have been outside President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office on Ivan Franko Square since Fedorov was fired last month were still there the day after his nine-minute video went out on Aug. 18. However, they were not more numerous than the day before.Article contentArticle contentIt has been seven years since the election that brought Zelensky to power in a landslide powered by widespread revulsion at the rampant corruption in the government. His popularity soared after the Russian invasion (90 per cent), and four-and-a-half years into the war it’s still at 65 per cent. That’s why Fedorov’s bid to mobilize the people against him has failed.Article contentThere’s a lot of dissent and dissatisfaction out there, no doubt, because the corruption problem is real. No year passes in Ukraine without arrests and trials of high-profile thieves right inside the government.Article contentZelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned last year in the midst of a corruption scandal that also implicated the president’s former business partner Timur Mindich (who fled abroad).Article contentThis year’s premier outrage featured people connected to the state-owned nuclear power company who misappropriated $3 million to pay bail for a former energy minister accused of money laundering. They have been arrested, as have been two senior state bank officials, while the deputy head of Zelensky’s office has been fired.Article contentArticle contentShocking, shameful stuff, but it’s standard operating procedure in post-Soviet political cultures where officials and politicians act as if they have the right to plunder the state. At least in Ukraine some of them are being arrested or dismissed, and Zelensky himself seems clean.Article contentArticle contentHow does Ukraine compare with other post-Soviet states on the international Corruption Perception Index? Transparency International ranks it at 104 out of 182 countries, in the same group as Brazil and Argentina – and steadily improving. Only 23 per cent of public service users paid a bribe in the previous 12 months.Article contentRussia, by contrast, ranks 157, near the bottom of the list, in the same group as Chad and Zimbabwe. Thirty-four per cent of Russian individuals paid bribes in the past year to public officials (health, education, police, etc.), and 71 per cent of Russian companies bidding for state contracts get demands for bribes.Article contentUkraine is not good on the corruption front but it’s getting better, and there’s no strong case for “throwing the rascals out.” But even if most people in the government are not rascals, seven years without an election is a long time. Surely democracy demands an election now – or at least the Russians and Donald Trump think so. They claim he has no legitimacy otherwise.
GWYNNE DYER: Ukraine: Democracy and corruption
