Ukraine anti-corruption movement launched at Dec. 23 forum

An anti-corruption forum in Kyiv on Dec. 23, attended by more than 6,000 Ukrainians, will serve as the launching pad for a nationwide anti-corruption movement, reported the pravda.com.ua news site. At the forum, volunteers distributed pins with the “Movement to Clean Up Ukraine,” indicating the name for the future movement, the pravda.com.ua news site reported.

Among its speakers, Odesa Regional State Administration Head Mikheil Saakashvili, confirmed to journalists at the forum that such a movement has been launched, which won’t be based on any political parties or figures. “This is far more important than any political project,” he said. “We hope this will lead to a large anti-corruption movement for reforms. That’s what we will try to do without any political leaders or parties. We are not creating a party. We are launching a non-political movement that no one will be able to stop.”

Zenon Zawada: As we reported, this movement is being backed by the U.S. (through its numerous NGOs and loyal operatives) because the current political establishment has demonstrated not only resistance to reforms, but even a desire to sabotage them, as has been reported by the U.S. ambassador.

The movement might not be based on any political leaders, but Saakashvili is certainly a central figure to this movement, given his active participation in these forums (the first being in Odesa) and willingness to openly challenge the political elite, which has provoked numerous vicious conflicts. This might be the Ukrainian people’s last chance to save themselves from the disaster that its current political elite is leading the country towards.

With enough public participation, this movement just might work, with the possibility of being able to transform itself into an all-encompassing political party to remove the oligarchs’ grip on power. Such a party could even end up competing in early parliamentary elections, which we believe are very likely to be called next year.