The Republic of Ukraine was founded in August 1991 on the principles of
democracy, the rule of law, freedom and human rights. In a democracy
all citizens are equal under the law and all have equal access to
power. Freedom is secured by legitimised rights and liberties enshrined
in a sacrosanct Constitution.
Today Ukrainian democracy is very much a democracy in the making. Ukraine has a two-tier society where a small minority exercise power and live above the law whilst the majority live under laws over which they have little influence, pay taxes to a government that is neither transparent nor accountable and have virtually no representation to the President, Parliament or in national and local government. Ukrainian political parties are not functioning as they should. Instead of being organizations run purely by their members, representing real electoral interests and concerns, Ukrainian political parties tend to be centred around industrial power blocks and establish policy through a top down approach.
This was not the democracy Ukrainians envisaged at the time of independence and as the recent economic situation has so graphically outlined, it is not a system that is either sustainable or in the interests of the majority of its citizens.
Ukraine needs to change but democratic change can neither be imposed from the outside nor achieved by upheaval from within. It is up to the people of Ukraine to understand and recognise their responsibilities within a democratic society and exercise their rights to bring about the systemic changes that are necessary to return the country to the path of real democracy, stability and economic growth. Only on this basis can Ukraine flourish and Ukrainians achieve the standard of living to which they are truly worthy.
Today Ukrainian democracy is very much a democracy in the making. Ukraine has a two-tier society where a small minority exercise power and live above the law whilst the majority live under laws over which they have little influence, pay taxes to a government that is neither transparent nor accountable and have virtually no representation to the President, Parliament or in national and local government. Ukrainian political parties are not functioning as they should. Instead of being organizations run purely by their members, representing real electoral interests and concerns, Ukrainian political parties tend to be centred around industrial power blocks and establish policy through a top down approach.
This was not the democracy Ukrainians envisaged at the time of independence and as the recent economic situation has so graphically outlined, it is not a system that is either sustainable or in the interests of the majority of its citizens.
Ukraine needs to change but democratic change can neither be imposed from the outside nor achieved by upheaval from within. It is up to the people of Ukraine to understand and recognise their responsibilities within a democratic society and exercise their rights to bring about the systemic changes that are necessary to return the country to the path of real democracy, stability and economic growth. Only on this basis can Ukraine flourish and Ukrainians achieve the standard of living to which they are truly worthy.
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will
be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy
is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the
worst form of government except all those other forms that have been
tried from time to time.
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
