Ukrainian protesters rallied yesterday outside the president’s office demanding the immediate ouster of the chief prosecutor and a more dedicated fight against state graft.
Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin has been ensnared in a web of scandals that have worried Ukraine’s Western allies and left despondent the throngs who spearheaded the country’s pro-EU revolution on Kiev’s Maidan Square in 2014.
Shokin is accused of failing to probe the alleged theft of state funds by the deposed Russian-backed leadership and of stalling investigations into prosecutors who were fired after being discovered hoarding cash and diamonds in their homes. He has also purportedly covered up the corrupt dealings of people close to the ruling regime.
The demonstrators and several parliament members held up banners reading “We are embarrassed for our authorities” and “We demand an independent prosecutor’s office”.
“The Maidan (revolution) is not over,” anti-corruption activist Vitaliy Shabunin told the crowd.
“We have to push further,” he said. “They (the authorities) fear nothing but the street.”
The rally highlighted one of the reasons Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has seen his public approval ratings fall to just a fraction of what they were when he was elected in May 2014.
The embattled pro-Western leader tried to appease the mounting discontent by asking his ally Shokin and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to step down on February 16.
But Yatsenyuk refused and that same day survived a no-confidence vote in parliament that has left the future of Ukrainian politics up in the air. Lawmakers are expected to decide today whether to accept Shokin’s own letter of resignation.
A senior member of the prosecutor general’s office, Vladyslav Kutsenko, told the Ukranews website that “according to our information, there are not enough votes” in parliament to approve his dismissal.
Poroshenko last week called on premier Yatsenyuk to finally step down and for parliament to pick his successor during Tuesday’s session. His party has nominated parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman - a close Poroshenko ally - to head the future cabinet.
Yet Yatsenyuk continues to cling on to his post and the leader of the president’s parliamentary faction said a debate on forming a new government may only happen on Thursday.