No promises, no apologies: An analysis of Zelensky’s election platform after seven years in office
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has failed to fulfill his campaign promises , and his entourage is involved in large-scale corruption schemes during the war.
Members of parliament from the European Solidarity faction are reminding people of this on social media.
“In the run-up to the 2019 elections, the Zelenskys, in a complimentary interview on a television channel, said they were ‘offered a project.’ This was their approach to entering big politics and a future presidency. They packed into the project everyone they had worked with in previous elections—producers, screenwriters, members of the Kvartal party, childhood friends. Ukraine has been living with them for seven years now, amid constant corruption scandals, destroyed by the incompetence of state institutions, while the ruling party remains a disposable project. European Solidarity insists on accountability from the authorities. Because we’ve all heard enough fantastical plans over the years,” noted faction co-chair Iryna Gerashchenko.
” If I can’t end the war, then another person needs to come along who can end this tragic history between our countries ,” Zelenskyy told the BBC in 2020. “He not only failed to end the war, but he sabotaged preparations for a full-scale invasion, which led to the deaths and injuries of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, the loss of 25% of our territory, and the total destruction of the country,” writes faction co-chair Artur Gerasimov.
“Less than a year later, he buried his own promises about economic development and the prosperity of Ukrainians. ‘The main goal of my activities is the wealthy Ukrainian. Our choice is an economy focused on the needs of every citizen,’ reads presidential candidate Zelenskyy’s platform. ‘…there’s the impression that the economy… has stumbled and is in danger of falling flat on its face ,’ reads Zelenskyy’s speech to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in March 2020. ‘Great theft’ on the roads, Mindich, Bakanov, godfather Chernyshev, ‘Dynasty,’ eggs for 17, ‘two-room apartments for Moscow,’ an attempt to destroy anti-corruption agencies… All this adds up to seven years of total unprofessionalism,” Gerasimov concludes.
MP Viktoria Syumar recalled that the current president promised Ukrainians a country “where only fireworks are fired at weddings and birthdays,” “where there are no ads saying ‘Jobs in Poland,’ while in Poland there are ads saying ‘Jobs in Ukraine,’” “where grandma gets a decent pension, not a heart attack from a utility bill,” and “where the reason isn’t even that they baptized their children together.” The MP also recalled Zelenskyy’s promise to run for president “for one term to change the system for the future.”
“Zelensky promised a country without war, without corruption, without nepotism, without poverty, without the state’s humiliation of people. Along with his ‘servants,’ he left behind something entirely different. He promised peace. In turn, the country plunged into a full-scale war after years of self-delusion, illusions, ‘eye-opening,’ underestimating the threat, and the deliberate failure of the state to prepare for a major invasion. He promised justice. Instead, we got selective justice, ‘untouchable’ friends, neighbors, and cronies of the president, the flight of defendants in cases, bail for corrupt officials, and political cover for his own. He promised a new quality of government. The country is overrun with random people, friends, cronies, ‘insiders,’ people without experience, without a sense of statecraft, and often without basic competence. Public administration has been transformed into an experiment on the country. Cronyism and ‘kvartalism’ have simply become the new official style of government,” writes MP Sofia Fedina.
“There’s not just a gap between promise and reality, but a catastrophic crisis of trust. Zelenskyy left as a candidate for major renewal. But he became the president of a major disappointment,” Fedina emphasized.
“For his seventh anniversary, Zelenskyy wanted a gift for himself: he demanded that the puppet government allocate a one-time 638 million hryvnia for the president’s beloved telethon, which lavishes him with adulation 24/7. This money comes either from Ukrainian taxpayers or from Western partners, who donate it not to Zelenskyy but to Ukrainians. I suspect that such a one-time allocation will be used not only for praising the most sublime things, but also for slander and bot farms to attack political opponents, civil society, anti-corruption agencies, and, in general, any living thing that breathes without the people’s consent,” Volodymyr said.
“Zelensky promised he would only serve one term. Because of the war, that term has been extended. However, he wants to extend it further, considering whether to run again. This is typical of populists all over the world. They come to power promising everyone everything and destroying the system. But the “system” turns out to be a life support system. Ironically, Zelensky has only managed to implement the well-known meme he used to shame his opponents: ‘The dollar will be at 45 hryvnias under Zelensky, there will be chaos, there will be war.’ Society must draw very serious conclusions to never again fall into the trap of populism. This path lies through the creation of a national unity coalition, the adoption of a program (on strengthening the Armed Forces, effective negotiations to force Russia to an unconditional ceasefire, and the protection and support of communities), and the formation of a professional government capable of implementing this program,” writes MP Rostislav Pavlenko.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the European Union, noted that seven years ago, Volodymyr Zelenskyy became president with an unprecedented level of trust.
“Zelensky inherited a state with a growing GDP, a full treasury, and a strong army. With a monopoly in parliament, he could have truly done a lot for the country. Zelensky steamrollered everything that had been effective since 2014. Looking back, the only result of Zelensky’s presidency is ruin in every sense,” the MP emphasized. “I hope this will serve as a good vaccination against populism for society, because the cost of the 2019 mistake was too high to avoid learning,” Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze concluded.
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