Lutsenko elected prosecutor general of Ukraine

Ukraine’s parliament voted on May 12 to support the president’s nomination of Yuriy Lutsenko as prosecutor general of Ukraine. His election earned 264 votes in favor (at pass rate of 226), drawn from the de facto coalition between the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and the People’s Front, as well as the People’s Will and Renaissance groups of MPs, whose support has proven essential for passing legislation in recent months. 

Having built a career as a politician, Lutsenko served as interior minister for nearly four years before being imprisoned for 18 months under the Yanukovych administration based on criminal charges that were recognized by Western institutions to have been politically motivated. He became a leading EuroMaidan activist, even getting bloodied, and has served as head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction since November 2014.

As his declared plans, Lutsenko vowed to prosecute officials of the Yanukovych administration in a public, in absentia trial for their crimes during the EuroMaidan protest. He assured the public he had no intention of revenge and would treat all suspect criminals equally under the law. He vowed not to use prosecutorial investigations as a form of political pressure.

In order to get Lutsenko’s candidacy approved, parliament approved earlier that day a bill removing the requirements that the prosecutor general have a law degree and ten years’ experience working as a prosecutor. Critics alleged the president was amending the law for a favored candidate that would not be independent, which grossly violates Western norms for rule of law.

Zenon Zawada: We agree with Lutsenko’s critics that it’s difficult to see how he can be an effective reformer and independent prosecutor if he was Poroshenko’s righthand man in parliament for the last year and a half. We expect no prosecutions of the president or his entourage under Lutsenko’s direction, which will allow the current alleged corruption to continue to thrive. Failing to prosecute members of the president’s entourage also means that Lutsenko can’t prosecute any top officials or businesspeople at all, which would reveal indicate bias and draw accusations of politically motivated prosecution.

Lutsenko’s promise to prosecute Yanukovych officials in absentia, more than two years after the EuroMaidan, is disingenuous and even cynical amidst the recent corruption scandals that have surfaced every few weeks involving the president and his entourage. Present crimes should be prioritized over past crimes, especially considering that Western financing is at stake, in exchange for which Western leaders are demanding concrete results.

Lutsenko’s appointment could be a time bomb that triggers the latest political crisis by as early as the end of the year, as predicted by numerous MPs. Lutsenko’s first real test will be meeting the anti-corruption requirements set forth by the IMF in securing the next USD 1.7 bln tranche. The Poroshenko administration can avoid crisis if Lutsenko is able to achieve the minimum expected of him, which is to satisfy Western reforms requirements in exchange for loans.