A full-scale war has robbed Ukrainians of their lives for half a year. In the meantime, the state, even despite such insurmountable circumstances, must live and work effectively. As well as its political “heart” – the Verkhovna Rada.
On how parliamentarians adapted to super-extreme realities, possible reshuffles in the Cabinet of Ministers, the search for traitors in the session hall and moods in the Ukrainian politicum – exclusively to the site Igor Petrenko, an expert from the International Center for Advanced Studies, and Oleg Dunda, MP from the Servant of the People faction, spoke on Channel 24.
Parliamentary everyday life of wartime
What is the situation in the Verkhovna Rada now, compared to the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine?Now systemic work has been established in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. As a rule, all issues are discussed in advance jointly by all factions, and agreed decisions are put to the vote, because there are no such discussions in the hall.
Also, the parliament has ceased to be a platform for political statements, such cases, of course, happen, but this is more an exception than a rule. Everyone realizes that the main thing is victory, and they work for it.
There is no confrontation between the parliament and the government. Of course, sometimes there are certain frictions between officials and deputies, but this is not of a massive nature. The opposition, primarily the EU Poroshenko, unfortunately seeks to shatter the situation, but all attempts are in vain, because the mainstream for Ukrainians today is unity, in particular the people and power. Today, the level of trust in Zelensky exceeds 90%, so the search for “zrada” is fragmented, and usually fades quickly.
Separation of portfolios: to be or not to be
In your opinion, are resignations in the government possible in the near future due to the crisis period that the whole of Ukraine is now forced to experience?
Rotations in the government are possible, but the main trigger is not who did what, but the issue of optimizing the state apparatus in the face of war and budget deficits. Now we should expect a reduction in the state apparatus, including government structures, by at least 30%.
Zelensky and other members of his team speak about this in particular. In principle, Zelensky has a simple approach: if a minister or other official is effective, then he works further, if not, then he makes room for a new, more competent and persistent person.
The greatest need for changes was felt in the power block. And these changes have already taken place. The head of the SBU, the Prosecutor General, was dismissed. There were big problems, in particular in the direction of cleansing from collaborators and traitors. And the president took a principled position on this issue.
There was also a change in the Minister of Social Policy, since this ministry is now under a heavy load, and it was difficult for the previous minister to keep up with everything. In general, obviously, we are waiting for the enlargement of ministries and structural changes in the government. The concept of appropriate changes is being developed now.
When the political process comes to life
What forecast of the political life of our state can you give this fall?
I do not think that it is worth waiting for significant changes in political life before the end of the war. Unity must and will be preserved until victory. But then the competition for the vision of post-war reconstruction will begin, and then the political process will intensify. Anything before that would be a false start for any politician who tries to do so, and would be disastrous for a political career. Ukrainians simply will not accept such things.
Today, the opposition continues to be in a state of disorganization, because previous strategies based solely on criticizing the authorities do not work, and the Ukrainian opposition is not yet capable of developing a new approach. I suppose that many political forces that are in opposition today will simply find themselves on the margins of the political process, and they will be replaced by a new generation of Ukrainian politicians who will have a vision of a better future for Ukraine.
Also, do not forget that Zelensky and his team have a lot of support, which will also determine the space for the actions of the new and old opposition. In the eyes of society, Zelensky is today the undisputed leader who not only did not run away, but was able to consolidate society, the military and allies in the fight against the aggressor. This is greatly appreciated. Therefore, any indiscriminate criticism will not go to the Ukrainians. More subtle mechanisms are needed here, which no one has yet proposed.
Despite the war, political life under the dome of the Verkhovna Rada is in full swing/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk, Channel 24
Traitors mimic “patriots”
With the start of a full-scale Russian offensive, the situation in the country changed very rapidly and required instant decisions from politicians at all levels. But, it is worth noting that, in fact, the big war simply highlighted some of the problems that existed even before the current realities.
The first question is the activities of the parliament – the Verkhovna Rada, where in 2019 the presidential party “Servant of the People” formed absolute majority.
Of course, the Verkhovna Rada has changed during this time. If in the first weeks after February 24 everyone was united, now a return to political realities is already felt. And sometimes I have a feeling that in Kyiv we returned to 2015. It seems that there is a war, but it is somewhere far away, – Oleg Dunda, MP and member of the Servant of the People faction, spoke about his observations.
He is particularly concerned about the activities of politicians associated with the pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party, whose representatives have actively promoted the idea of cooperation with Putin. Although the political force itself was banned on March 20, 2022, its influence is still felt, because politicians simply created new deputy groups in parliament and continue to work. Some fled abroad, some simply miss meetings, but the impact is still palpable.
While they were very quiet for the first month, now they are starting to promote ideas about peace with Russia and criticize high tariffs for the population. We made the same mistake in 2015. Instead of “cleansing” all pro-Russian political forces and identifying collaborators, the politicians agreed to cooperate. Most likely, voters will not forgive us for this now,” he noted.
The laurels of victory will belong to one
Oleg Dunda believes that although President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is a person that politicians look up to, the salvation of Ukraine is primarily the merit of citizens. “but Ukraine survived thanks to Ukrainian society. Both the Ukrainian elite and Moscow underestimated Ukrainian citizens. I even think that this parliament is “transitional”, given the political forces that have come to power. In the future, we will not have collaborators and sympathizers of Russia in the composition We are glad,” the politician is convinced.
If we talk about the Cabinet, in my opinion, the government should have been changed a year ago. It does not meet the requirements of the times. The problem is that the government reacts to the events that have already happened, and does not prevent problems or predict threats. And this is the problem of all power structures in Ukraine. We need people who will plan and defend their vision,” the parliamentarian summed up.
