Ukraine parliament allows president to appoint anti-corruption head

Ukraine’s parliament approved on Feb. 5 the first reading of a bill amending legislation that sets the conditions for the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the National Corruption Prevention Agency of Ukraine. Among the most debated points was the procedure of appointing and dismissing the anti-corruption bureau head. Current legislation has the parliament approving its chair, while the amendments transfer that authority to the president.

Zenon Zawada: It’s positive that the procedure for creating the Anti-Corruption Bureau is moving forward and constructive changes are being made, such as transferring the authority to appoint its head to the president. He will make his selection from a group of candidates submitted by a jury, who members will be appointed by the parliament, Cabinet and Presidential Administration. Giving the president this authority restricts the number of people who can influence the bureau, which would be larger if the parliament approved the head.

Yet we see hurdles ahead for the bureau’s effective work, which will be coordinated by Oleksandr Turchynov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and as much an insider of Ukraine’s corrupt post-Soviet nomenklatura as anyone. Conflicts will surface if its head is active and vigilant.