“Queen” overthrew the Necas government

Political corruption scandals happen all over the world, in Europe and in Ukraine. They have one thing in common – use of official position for personal gain. But that’s about the only similarity. Most importantly is how the authorities, opposition, mass media, and the society respond to it.

And in this respect, the reaction of the Czech government and the mass media to the scandal that erupted late last week in the country and led to the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Petr Necas is quite revealing and instructive for Ukraine.

On June 14 the prosecutor’s office filed charges against the closest associate of Petr Necas head of his office Jana Nagyova, who was accused of corruption and abuse of power. It happened after police raids against organized crime carried out in several public institutions and offices of private companies. As a result of these raids the police confiscated nearly eight million dollars in cash, dozens of kilograms of gold, and documents.

The investigation claims that Nagyova illegally bribed two former members of the parliament, offering them positions in state agencies in exchange for seats in the parliament. Nagyova is also accused of ordering military intelligence keep three individuals under surveillance. One of those individuals was the wife of Petr Necas, Radka Necas. Prime minister made a public statement about divorcing his wife shortly before the arrest of Nagyova.

In addition to the prime minister’s assistant the police also arrested two former deputies, one minister, and both former and current heads of military intelligence. All but one remain in custody.

The head of the Civic Democratic Party Petr Necas said at the press conference on June 16 that on Monday he would resign from the post of the prime minister and also the head of the party. All the members of the government will automatically resign together with the prime minister and the ruling coalition, which includes two other parties, will have to form a new government.

Czech leading mass media responded acutely to this scandal. Hospodarske noviny newspaper wrote that the Prime Minister Petr Necas lost a chance to retire from the post with dignity and show that he is seriously fighting the corruption. “And the fact that the prime minister’s closest advisor was charged with illegal use of security service in private intrigues, brings the Czech Republic closer to the Latin American autocracies,” noted the newspaper.

Another popular newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes offered to name the scandal “Queen” after Necas’ assistant. According to the publication, she was involved in three cases: the distribution of lucrative positions among three members of the ODS party in exchange for their mandates, secret surveillance of Ms. Necas, whom prime minister wants to divorce, and providing Prague ‘God fathers’ with state contracts.

It is clear that in Europe, to which Ukraine is actively aspiring, things are not all that simple, there are difficulties and scandals – it has been demonstrated by the abovementioned scandal in the Czech Republic. However, as we can see, all the state institutions function adequately and the authorities follow political standards. The opposition, society, and mass media are doing their part in controlling the actions of the government. This still does not apply to the Ukrainian opposition, which does not attempt to introduce European political standards and, most importantly, close the high-profile cases from the time of Kuchma’s presidency, hoping to act just like the old team.

Hryhorii PEREPELYTSIA, Ph.D. in Political Science, Professor at Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, and Director of the Foreign Policy Institute attached to the Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

“It is really important how the authorities respond to corruption of senior officials. In this case – this was a normal reaction. I think that it will be a very strong warning for corrupt officials, even if they hold the highest positions. And in this sense, no matter what anti-corruption committees are initiated under the president of Ukraine or what laws are passed for fighting corruption, actions is what matters the most. In Ukraine, unfortunately, only local officials in the village councils or, maximum, heads of executive committees can be charged with corruption. While systematic corruption starts from the top.

“What concerns the conclusions, first of all, I think our society should closely look at how the Czech Republic acts in this situation. Second, it is a democratic country. Everything is transparent and open. This is the success and value of democracy, which the Czech people achieved and managed to defend. This should be a conclusion for our society about where they want to go, whether they want to have democratic changes or live in an authoritarian post-Soviet regime.

“The third conclusion is that corruption is a very serious evil. And even if you look at the super democratic Czech Republic, you can still see that this evil exists there too. How can we fight this? It can be achieved through transparency and appropriate actions of the law-enforcement agencies, without subjecting them to the senior management, and instead providing the freedom for the law-enforcement agencies to act, ensuring the reliable means for combating this social evil.”

Do you see the desire in the authorities and the opposition to fight this evil in Ukraine, willingness to adopt this foreign experience in fighting corruption?

“No, there is no evident desire. Democratic countries usually have a special law-enforcement agency: Anti-Corruption Bureau, National Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, which are not dependent on the senior government officials in their actions. This is a certain guarantee. In Ukraine since the late 1990s it was planned to create a National Bureau of Investigation, but the parliament and the senior government officials were against it. And there is no such agency in Ukraine as of this moment.”

Why?

“Top government officials, including MPs from both the opposition and the ruling coalition, are not interested in providing means for independent monitoring of their activities by such institutions.

“And, of course, in this case it is important for Ukraine to sign the Association Agreement. In the Czech Republic and Poland much has been done with Europe’s assistance and thanks to the European progress. In these countries the reforms of state authority institutions have been carried out, because democratization also means responsibility of the authorities before the community. Not only the authorities as a collective force, but also individually each senior official.

“Ukrainian society is, unfortunately, still indifferent. But the event and the reaction to it in the Czech Republic should be a good lesson for the Ukrainian people. We must follow the example of the system that was created in the Czech Republic and other countries of the former socialist camp in the results of democratic reforms.”