Posted on 02/27/2020 10:03:45 PM PST by NorseViking
When Volodymyr Zelensky catapulted to Ukraine’s presidency in April 2019, the actor-turned-statesman promised a fresh start, a rejection of politics as usual, and a thorough overhaul of Ukraine’s political and economic system. Parliamentary elections three months later gave Zelensky’s Servant of the People party a majority of 254 out of 424 available seats.
With a clear mandate from his country, the wildly popular president put into place a government and inner circle with a reputation for honesty and integrity. He has jump-started reform, scoring a number of impressive legislative achievements. But despite continued foreign and domestic enthusiasm over Ukraine’s new direction, Zelensky is now facing a grim reality: Dramatic change in Ukraine is difficult, yet public expectations are high. As the new president struggles to deliver on promises of radical change made during his campaign, confidence in his government is beginning to erode.
To be sure, Zelensky has already launched reforms that used to be unthinkable in Ukraine. His administration has turned more than 500 state-owned companies over to the State Property Fund for rapid privatization. A sweeping land privatization bill—something no Ukrainian leader has been able to deliver for three decades—is on the verge of passage in parliament. Also in the works is a major banking reform that would prevent corrupt oligarchs from claiming compensation for banks that were nationalized after having been stripped of their assets by dubious related-party loans. Above all, the people Zelensky has put into office have in the main been untarnished by association with oligarchs and largely immune to corruption. Indeed, Zelensky demonstrated his independence from Ukraine’s traditional power brokers by breaking links with Ihor Kolomoisky, the billionaire businessman whose TV channel was a bedrock of the president’s rise to power.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
It is just coincidence that Ukraine has launched criminal proceedings against Joe Biden, that the Western press is turning on Zelensky.
Yeah, Wa Po posted this as dismissively as possible today, but it looks like someone is scared. Especially since Telensky or whatever his name with Giuliani said recently that Chalupa told him to get dirt on Trump so they could eject him from the 2016 elections.
Zelensky has already launched reforms that used to be unthinkable in Ukraine...
He sounds like Trump. Both are learning how deep the respective swamps are.
It’d say all the scheme is pretty much uncovered by now.
The Ukrainians planted Trump dossier and all the hacker stories, then framed Manafort to smear Trump by association and also to derail his campaign.
I don’t think so. Do you mean an introduction of a non-deductible electoral deposit at around $160000 for anyone running for any executive office? That’s in a country with the average income of $3500 a year.
That is sure to end graft and oligarchy. /s
That’s just one item of corruption. Watch the Giuliani Common Sense videos. Money laundering. Theft of aid funds. Fake black ledgers. Investigations squelched by corrupt US Ambassador. Ukrainian whistleblowers denied visas by corrupt US Embassy. And more.
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