Zelensky's "U-Turn"
- Karl Johansson
- 4 aug.
- 3 min läsning
Western press is breathing a sigh of relief following Zelensky's reversal of his recent law attacking domestic anti-corruption investigators. They are missing the point.
In last week’s blog post I made the case that by dismantling the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies NABU and SAPO, president Zelensky was failing his people and making Ukraine more like Russia. All points I believe now just as I did then. Of course, things have changed and Zelensky has bowed to public pressure and reinstating these institutions’ independence. Western media sees this as a clear win for Ukraine, and lets Zelensky off the hook now that the changes are reversed. I am not so kind.
The fact that the changes were made in the first place does not inspire confidence in Zelensky and his team’s intentions. Sure, they have reversed the controversial law, but only because of massive pressure at home and abroad. The fact that they did not see the uproar coming speaks to them feeling impervious to the public’s wishes. As far as I can tell, SAPO and NABU are broadly popular and Ukraine remains a country with real ongoing problems with corruption, not abating even as the enemy makes gains on the front line. In what world does it not look suspicious to defang anti-corruption investigators?
We should also not discount the chilling effect Zelensky’s demonstration of power over NABU and SAPO has. The president managed to get a supermajority in the Rada first for one law only to put forward a law which makes a U-turn in the same policy area only a week later which also passed with a supermajority. Everyone at SAPO and NABU have seen it demonstrated that they are only independent until Zelensky decides they are not. And that is before we get to all the things the president’s allies had time to mess around with during the week when they were in charge.
The Economist’s story on this whole episode includes a section about what happened after the first law passed: “Then, on July 21st, the domestic security service and the prosecutor-general’s office launched dozens of raids targeting officers at NABU and SAPO”. I wonder if a list of who’s being investigated and for what made it to the president’s staff. Perhaps crucial evidence will have been “accidentally” lost during one of those raids. If nothing else NABU and SAPO’s work will have been meaningfully slowed by what happened.
Unlike most Western commentators, I am not especially impressed with Zelensky’s performance as a wartime leader. I think he has made plenty of bad calls in terms of military strategy, and as this anti-corruption drama illustrates his domestic policy is not great either. Reversing a bad policy after it has passed is not a return to the status quo ante in this case. And anyone who feels the need to go after anti-corruption investigators better have a really damn good reason for doing so.
If you liked this post you can read a previous post about Zelensky's corruption reform here or the rest of my writings here. I also have a section for longer reads I call essays here, I particularly recommend my essay on Silicon Valley and AI called 'No Acoustic Guitars in Silicon Valley'. It'd mean a lot to me if you recommended the blog to a friend or coworker. Come back next Monday for a new post!
I've always been interested in politics, economics, and the interplay between. The blog is a place for me to explore different ideas and concepts relating to economics or politics, be that national or international. The goal for the blog is to make you think; to provide new perspectives.
Written by Karl Johansson
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Cover photo by Stephen Andrews from Pexels, edited by Karl Johansson
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