OPINION: Government Reshuffle in Kyiv or Strengthening of Zelensky Oligarchy?

We know that Ukraine is at war, and its leader and his closest and most trusted aides need to be trusted and respected. But that should not mean that, even in these abnormal times, anything goes, and that the very basic principles related to democracy, openness and accountability, can be flouted.

The manner in which the removal, replacement, or redeployment of some of the country’s senior officials has just been carried out is unfitting for a country that is a democracy and is waging a war against Russia’s imperialistic despotism in democracy’s name.

Let’s forget for a moment the wise saying cautioning about changing horses in midstream. For what is the sense of abruptly replacing ministers and other officials who until now had apparently served the country well during its darkest hours and months?

To energize the government, as we’re lamely told. Then what were these officials doing until now – dozing?

Take the example of foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who apart from the president himself, was a worthy representative of Ukraine on the world stage.  He patiently put up with the fact that the President’s Office has over the last three years sidelined the country’s Foreign Ministry and that the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, a lawyer and business partner of Zelensky's, has, for all intents and purposes, taken over this role and become the gray cardinal in the president’s administration.

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Have we heard any words of thanks to Kuleba from the president and his entourage?  Small wonder he did not appear in parliament today to offer a report on his challenging term in office and witness his humiliating ouster.

And as for the prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, who may be one of the next to go.  Has he been allowed to play his constitutional managerial role properly or has he been used as Zelensky’s inner circle seems fit, only to be summarily discarded when no longer necessary?

What is worrying is that all this fits into a broader pattern characterizing the Zelensky team’s approach.  It’s not just ministers who have been replaced or dismissed without proper explanation.

In recent days, we’ve seen the same treatment in the cases of the Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi and the Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk.

And before that there were the scandalous precedents, totally lacking in accountability, with the replacement of Ukraine’s polished ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, a capable defense minister in Oleksiy Reznikov, and much respected head of the armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny.

So, it’s worth recalling the definition of an oligarchy, even if Ukraine’s key oligarchs have effectively had their wings clipped by the Zelensky administration. An oligarchy means a small group of people having control of a country or organization. They don’t need to be the most affluent, but the tacitly self-proclaimed most important ones. And that is what the president’s office has become with his apparent blessing.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the way things are moving.  War or no war!  There is no excuse for this in a presidential-parliamentary democracy that Ukraine prides itself on being in contrast with despotic Russia and Belarus.

PR effectiveness abroad is vitally needed, but it is one thing. Let’s see more openness and accountability at home and respect for constitutional norms before disillusionment, anger and division set in.