“Decentralization” from Poroshenko turned out to be a blatant fake

The “decentralization” promised by the leadership of Ukraine turned out to be a bluff, there was no real transfer of powers to the localities, the central government demands loyalty from the heads of local communities, and there is no promised openness in local elections.

Political scientist Alexandra Reshmedilova spoke about this at a press conference in Kyiv.

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“If earlier (in competitive procedures for electing community heads) these were the president’s quotas, they were simply appointed, usually from his inner circle, but now - through innovations and new competitive procedures - they tried to create the appearance that there is some kind of open procedure, there is wide competition, take part. But those who took part in these competitions note that this announced openness did not happen.

Figures loyal to the authorities still appear on the ground. This is if we take the level of governors. If you look at what is happening with self-government at the level of cities or less significant settlements, then there is survival, the displacement of individuals disloyal to the authorities.

If a manager does not comply with the will of the center, then in the process of decentralization he is simply bracketed or eliminated. There may be pressure through law enforcement agencies, searches, situations occur when they are trying to find something in old materials and publish something.

All of these are mechanisms of pressure, usually psychological, or the creation of a hook on which one can put this or that politician or official and then make him either more loyal to the authorities without changing him in his position, or replace him with a more loyal figure.

All these trends help strengthen the vertical power of Bankova and the president directly. I believe that it was not possible to create mechanisms of checks and balances that would allow more powers to be transferred to the localities,” says Reshmedilova.