KYIV, Aug 8: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy quickly reversed course last month on a law that would have curbed the independence of the country’s anti-corruption watchdogs after widespread protests that threatened the stability of his leadership for the first time since Russia’s invasion.
It’s unlikely that the damage to the president’s image can be changed as easily.
Zelenskyy’s reversal followed years of public discontent that simmered around his inner circle, some of whom have been accused of corruption. But Ukrainians have been largely deferential toward their president in wartime, trusting him to lead the fight against the Kremlin and even acquiescing in the suspension of some civil liberties.
The protests showed the limits of that goodwill after the public concluded that Zelenskyy’s fast-tracking of the law was a step too far.
“People will support Zelenskyy in whatever he does as it relates to the war. But the previous level of trust “that he will carry out everything correctly, without outside interests, has been damaged,” said Tetiana Shevchuk, a board member of the Ukrainian nonprofit Anti-Corruption Action Centre, which fights graft. Zelenskyy “will need to work hard to get it back.”
A Gallup poll released Thursday found that about two-thirds of Ukrainians approve of the way Zelenskyy is handling his job as president, down from 84 per cent in 2022. Another poll released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found a similar pattern, with trust in Zelenskyy down from just before the war started and a sharp decrease since after the signing of the law.
Both polls were conducted in July and excluded adults living in regions of the country that were not controlled by Ukraine or were under entrenched Russian control.
The initial decision to sign the proposal hurt Zelenskyy’s standing among Ukrainians, loyal lawmakers and Western allies, including one foreign minister who told The Associated Press that his willingness to backtrack on the law would help restore “lost trust.”
Zelenskyy says bill was designed to root out Russian influence
Zelenskyy sparked the outcry when he signed measures to reduce the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, or NABU, and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, or SAPO.
Zelenskyy said the initial bill was meant to root out Russian influence in those agencies, but he did not provide evidence to support the claim. The bill became a law so quickly that lawmakers said they barely had time to read it. For the Ukrainian people, patience wore thin.
From the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the public tolerated restrictions such as martial law and postponed elections. But critics also argued that the consolidation of the president’s authority undermined the country’s democratic institutions, along with the checks and balances necessary for transparency. Members of Zelenskyy’s inner circle and the corruption allegations fuelled public resentment.
The resulting anti-corruption protests in July in Kyiv and other cities were among the largest in years, drawing thousands of demonstrators and reflecting widespread public demand for transparency and accountability even during wartime.
“It’s not one law that brought people to the streets, but a series of events and mostly an accumulation of feelings and wanting to show the government there are certain red lines,” Shevchuk said.
Ukrainian leaders have been sensitive to public opinion ever since the Euromaidan protests of 2013 and 2014, which ignited extraordinary political changes, including the ousting of pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych. Those protests marked a decisive moment in Ukraine’s history and galvanised public intolerance toward corruption and abuse of power.
Until recently, Zelenskyy’s decisions and public statements aligned mostly with public opinion. He watches polls closely. For instance, he did not say that Ukraine would be unable to win back occupied territory militarily until polls showed that Ukrainians were willing to end the war for territorial concessions.
Many of the suspicions about Zelenskyy’s inner circle focused on the head of his presidential office, Andriy Yermak, who is seen as having too much power, according to activists and Ukrainian and Western officials. In recent weeks, two other individuals close to Zelenskyy sparked public ire ahead of the protests.
The first was former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, a close ally of Zelenskyy’s, who in June was formally named a suspect in a high-profile land-grab case. Later, the NABU announced that he was the sixth suspect in a large corruption scheme led by a Kyiv property developer.
The other individual is Tymur Mindich, a close friend of Zelenskyy’s. Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that the NABU and the SAPO were in the process of issuing a formal notice of suspicion against the businessman, who is involved in drone production.
“Ukrainians are united around the president in his war efforts, in his efforts to gain support from allies right now and the necessary military aid,” Shevchuk said. “But at the same time, people know what is happening with the close allies of the president, the allegations of corruption, so this does not go unnoticed.”
The protests “were a reminder to the president from the people basically saying, We see everything, remember everything. And we don’t want the president to use his power to protect corruption,’” she added.
Lawmakers will no longer blindly accept laws backed by Zelenskyy
Lawmakers who speedily passed the first law limiting the NABU and the SAPO said the backlash undercut the blind trust in bills backed by Zelenskyy. Bills supported by him were once passed with little objection, with few exceptions.
“I voted not because I agreed with the law, but because it was the president’s decision,” said lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of Zelenskyy’s party.
“I had no time to read it, but I understood what was at risk, and I voted like other people because we trusted the president. It was his decision, and we are team players.”
Zelenskyy himself conceded that communication about the law had been lacking.
“Probably there should have been a dialogue. Communication is always necessary,” he told reporters on July 24.
The firm faith in Zelenskyy led one lawmaker to joke that if the president nominated a spoon for prime minister, Parliament would likely vote in favour. But that sentiment has changed, Merezhko said, with parliament now becoming more independent.
“Now members of parliament will be more careful,” he said. “If before we had a presumption of trust with respect to the president or cabinet of the bills, we now have a presumption of mistrust. If similar bills are introduced,” members of parliament “will remember what happened. They don’t want to be framed or blamed for what happened.”
But lawmakers commended Zelenskyy for acting swiftly to reverse his decision and quiet the anger on the street. Last week, parliament passed another bill restoring the independence of the NABU and the SAPO.
“People asked for changes. We responded,” Zelenskyy told reporters.
Law also raised doubts in the West
The proposed law also drew concern among Ukraine’s European allies, who suggested it could imperil support for Kyiv and affect Ukraine’s bid to join the EU. Ukraine’s closest allies welcomed the swift turnaround.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the issue in a July 24 call with Zelenskyy. A readout of the call from Starmer’s office said the leaders “agreed on the importance of the role of independent anti-corruption institutions at the heart of Ukraine’s democracy.”
In Germany, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul expressed dismay when Zelenskyy approved the measures to reduce the powers of the NABU and the SAPO. When Zelenskyy reversed course, Wadephul wrote on X that the Ukrainian parliament’s vote “was a positive and necessary step toward regaining lost trust.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who often weighs in on matters in foreign countries, including their domestic affairs, has been silent about the Ukrainian corruption law. (AP)
