All power of the President. Who and how managed the country after the Russian invasion
On the one hand, it is logical during the war, he is the Supreme Commander. But on the other, it is important to understand what risks exist for democracy and this is not the beginning of authoritarianism. It would seem that Volodymyr Zelenskyy had completely different problems: he promised to fight the oligarchs, thought of competition with the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and did not believe in the full -scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine.
Zelensky continued to lead in the presidential ratings, although the level of support was reduced without any real prospect of improvement. On February 24, 2022, the morning changed everything. At 5. 00, the Army of Russia again invaded the territory of Ukraine - from the south, north and east, and more than six dozen rockets flew into large and small cities of Ukraine.
The Russian political leadership, headed by President Vladimir Putin, was assumed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be lost, losing the country and just run. But that didn't happen. On the eve of the invasion in Russia, they closely monitored the political processes in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was all reported that the authorities in Ukraine are weak, so this is the best moment to attack. Political scientist Viktor Nevzhenko says this focus.
In Ukraine, however, the artist, who, to the question of the "little -known" oligarch from the Dnieper, they say, you can play the President, proudly replied: "I can". And we were happy to accept it - many are scared of Poroshenko. After the election of Zelensky, there was a frustration for two years: from 70% of his rating fell to 25%, - the expert recalls. Zelensky was not a man in his place, but then the war began.
And those who tried to "teach" Zelensky to friendship with Putin and asked him to look into his eyes, they did not know what to do. It turned out that Putin does not want to negotiate, but wants to simply destroy Zelensky. And suddenly we saw not the artist, not intimidated by the person, but the president of the country who is set to fight.
Zelensky not just learned Ukrainian perfectly, not only broke away from his artistic "clown" past, but also became a full -fledged foreign policy president who performs his functions perfectly - a person who punches the armor of the indifference of the event. " He was expected abroad and inside the country, - says political technologist Alexander Kochetkov, answering focus questions about how Zelensky changed in a year.
Everything that we seemed to have prevented him from being president - the ability to speak and persuade, the ability to play in the public, to gain affection, now. With UK Prime Minister Winton Churchill. "For example, we worked with Americans as they are comfortable to work and as they work most effectively. It is a pure business approach,-Oleksandr Kraev, expert of the Foreign Policy Council "Ukrainian Prism" notes in a comment on focus.
We discussed what we needed when we need it and why we need it when they doubted how we use it, we absolutely calmly, without unnecessary noise, we allowed all the expert, verification commissions of the Pentagon, the US State Department, they see that Ukrainians Weapons are used correctly and qualitatively, they do not steal money that is specifically provided by Americans. It was a conversation in a business ton and a rhythm. " have become minimal.
In addition, there are failures in domestic politics: in the field of local self -government, budget, personnel policy. Volodymyr Zelensky is constantly located in Andriy Yermak, the head of the Presidential Office. His participation in many processes is decisive.
He accompanies the president during a trip to the liberated raisins, besieged Bakhmut, flies with him to Washington, London, Brussels, comments cannot build roads at the same time, be Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, engage in local self -government and be a secretary, in direct rose Skills, President. But Yermak can. Just an orchestra. So you can work for several months, up to a year. But then it becomes obvious that it is impossible to cover all queries.
Now Yermak does not know how to return to the former positions, because it is obvious that there are problems with local authorities, judicial reform, appointment of ambassadors, we remember Bulgaria, " - continues Viktor Nevzhenko. Yermak also tries to control the diplomatic direction. For example, he often refers to his own Good ties with Jake Sullivan, an adviser to the US President on national security. But for the US Yermak is not quite acceptable counterparty.
They are not used to working with an informal hierarchy. Whose representative is Yermak. Do we know who is the Secretary of the White House? We do not know. Instead, we know who is the head of the President's office. It is strange for Americans why a person with such a position has such a power, why he manages such resources, why partners should talk to him about those cases that are usually spoken with the Minister of Foreign Affairs or the Minister of Defense.
Americans are not very delighted with what the power levers he has. " But in fact, she is just approaching it, - says Kochetkov. Therefore, the position of head of the Presidential Administration always means much more than the status. It depends directly on the manager.
If it is a person who is quite strong and is an administrator, then they are immediately called the second person in the state: if he is no person, and it was also in the history of Ukraine, then we do not even remember it, Ermak receives unofficially, but A lot of powers from the President. It is more significant than any minister. During the war, perhaps only the Chief of the General Staff may be more. And danced at their parties.
He does not know that there is a division of authorities into higher and lower industries. The same person, even if Ermak and Zelensky, can not be a judge, a minister, and a speaker of parliament. And President Zelensky slowly conquered both the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada, " - says political scientist Nekzhenko. He adds:" It is not by chance that the Kremlin beats in this sphere, through corruption, through the past, through degradation.
The Russians are very pleased that we have a weak Cabinet, a weak Verkhovna Rada, and the inability to control everything weakens the President's office. "In fact Accredited journalists went to the sidelines and communicated with the deputies. For the last twelve months, because of the threats of national security and personally, parliamentarians have been gathering in a secret format without announcements, and the publicity has learned about the factatum.
Apparently, the last announced meeting with the heads of factions took place a year ago, February 22, 2022. The work of Parliament Zelensky speaks with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, the first Vice-speaker Alexander Kornienko and the head of the "servant of the people" of David Arahamia. notes Kochetkov. That is, the interaction was reduced to direct management.
It may be appropriate during the war, but these functions should not be performed by the President's office, but the rate of the Supreme Commander. It should not be forgotten that any monopoly power-corrupts. It is no coincidence that there are restrictions on presidential terms, otherwise it is the path to a soft or rigid dictatorship. The great powers that are not prescribed or provided for by the Constitution are bad.
We need to change, adjust the system of power so that the situation is concentrated in one house on Bankova becomes unacceptable. " that at the beginning of the invasion, Vladimir Zelensky and the President's office were engaged in international politics, and the situation on the battlefield was controlled by the military - the President did not interfere as the High Commander -in -Chief.
And it is obvious that during the war the role Making a survey to find out who respects and trust the society, Zaluzhny will be near Zelensky's second, and for someone, perhaps the first, - says Kochetkov. But if you ask the society, whether it will vote for the party "If it is headed by Zaluzhny, then God forbid that 20% with the tail is approved. People do not perceive it as a political figure. They perceive it as a defender of the Fatherland.
His appearance and trust in him It is related to the war, with the successful actions of the Armed Forces. When the war is over, its transition to a political career will not be automatic at all. " But it can be noted that in the information field of 2022 it was often said that Valery Zaluzhny could be a competitor of Zelensky. This was also paid attention to Bankova. Journalists noticed: "As soon as someone becomes" too popular ", it magically disappears sharply from the media field.
" "In fact, Zaluzhny has no competition with the President," Kochetkov continues. Those who whisper the President every day that Zaluzhny wants to overtake him in the ranking or get his power - Pure Kremlin Technologies "Separate and Lord. " And it seems to me that Zaluzhny is too. " The second person who is responsible for the army, or more precisely, is its security, is the Minister of Defense Alexei Reznikov.
For six months, he was talked about as a person who was effectively facilitated in Ramstein's work. But afterwards, several corruption and reputational scandals in the department (initially, they talked about the schemes with the supply of weapons, after it turned out that the Defense Ministry had purchased eggs at 17 UAH apiece, which was three times more expensive than the market), which resulted in retired. But did not go.
"Some people say, if Reznikov is released, it can destroy the entire defense sector or extremely negatively affect Ramstin's negotiations," says political scientist Vladimir Fesenko.
Development of the defense industry, strategic communication, in particular with external partners, is both "Ramstein", NATO, and bilateral political relations along the lines of the Ministries He was assigned to himself or he was instructed last year, in an interview, he told that when weapons were issued, he was forced to look for people for this, it was after February 24. The overestimation of prices for the purchase of foreign weapons. Unfortunately.
Internal problems, apparently, Reznikov lost control of the internal situation or control was insufficient. " The scandals almost cost a response. Sources in the President's office say that the President was indignant not after the scandal began, but due to the reaction of the Refund Minister Reznikov to the publication, which listed data on inflated food prices for the army - he blamed journalists, urged the Security Service of Ukraine, could not answer, could not answer Tender questions.