Supreme Court receives complaints against Bohdan appointment

The Supreme Court of Ukraine announced on May 27 that
it received two complaints seeking to overturn President Zelenskiy’s
appointment of Andriy Bohdan as presidential administration head. The complaint
was filed by the Civic Lustration Committee, reflecting the position of
Bohdan’s political opponents that Ukraine’s 2014 lustration legislation should
prevent him from taking government office. The lustration law that took effect
October 2014 forbids anyone serving a high government post under President
Yanukovych’s tenure (2010-2014) from returning to state service for 10 years.
Bohdan was twice appointed anti-corruption ombudsman by former PM Mykola
Azarov, in 2010 and 2013. On May 22, Ukraine’s Justice Ministry stated its
position that the lustration law, “On Cleaning Government,” covers the position
of presidential administration head and prevents Bohdan from being able to
serve in the post.

In response to the claims, Presidential Administration
Deputy Head Ruslan Riaboshapka said the president will adhere to a decision by
the Constitutional Court in its current review of the lustration law in
question. “The problem with this law is that it’s shoddy and contradicts the
Constitution, when one norm directly states that lustration doesn’t apply to
state bodies, while another norm mistakenly includes the Presidential
Administration in state bodies, he said on May 23, as reported by the
pravda.com.ua news site. “Once the Constitutional Court reaches a ruling that
the lustration law in this part conforms to the Constitution, the president
will dismiss Bohdan that day as someone who should undergo measures to cleanse
government.”

Zenon Zawada: What this
conflict reveals is that it’s a top priority for the Zelenskiy team to keep
Bohdan as presidential administration head, which was likely their plan for a
long time. Since 2014, Bohdan had served as the personal lawyer for billionaire
Ihor Kolomoisky, who sponsored the Zelenskiy campaign and wants Bohdan to be in
such a key position.  It’s understood that Kolomoisky will enjoy some
influence on Zelenskiy, especially with Bohdan as administration head, though
it’s still not clear to what extent.

If Bohdan remains as administration head, he will be
held to a higher standard in pursuing an anti-corruption campaign, in light of
his background serving in the notoriously corrupt Azarov Cabinet, and also in
light of Zelenskiy’s claims of making the anti-corruption fight a top priority.
Unless a large-scale anti-corruption campaign is launched this year (that
treats all citizens equally under the law), Zelenskiy and Bohdan will be very
vulnerable to criticism and the pro-Western opposition will begin to regain the
public support it lost under the Poroshenko administration.