"Corruption must be destroyed. Unfortunately, not in our lifetime," – Servant of People Bohutska
Servant of the People MP Yelyzaveta Bohutska doubts that corruption in Ukraine can be defeated "in our lifetime."
She wrote about this on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
"Corruption is systemic. Some call it class-based or state-forming. No. This foundation must be destroyed. And it will be. Unfortunately, not in our lifetime. Although, who knows? Maybe we’ll live to see it…," the MP wrote.
Bohutska stressed that responsibility for corruption lies not only with officials and intermediaries who take bribes, but also with those who pay them — including businesses and ordinary people seeking to ‘fix’ problems quickly and quietly.
"We all dislike corruption. Heads of MSEC, MMC, TCR, or those who sell exemption from military service… But someone is paying these bribe-takers huge sums, aren’t they?
A young man looks for a way to avoid mobilization. He buys a deferment for $5,000 plus a thousand every month to extend it. He complains that financial debauchery has consumed those who ‘solve’ the issue. Not him — them. In other words, Rafik is innocent. He ‘just wants to live.’ As if those at war are suicide-seekers on some exquisite mission.
Someone else raises a bribe to stay with the family. $15,000. The family goes into debt to buy off a son, husband, brother, or son-in-law, cursing the unit commander for ‘greed.’ Everyone is buying something: an illness, extra children, caring for a bedridden mother… But the bribe-takers are the ones selling all this… Right? Not those who pay.
These are small sketches of a phenomenon that scales massively. Refuse to pay. But you want a privilege, don’t you? You want a contract and you’re ready to pay a kickback. Ready to slip a bribe so you won’t be inspected, or stuff cash into a traffic officer’s pocket so he won’t take your license," the MP said.
People who enable everyday bribery then rage about corruption at the state level, Bohutska wrote:
"At the same time, this very person who pays a bribe sits in front of the TV at night raging about rampant corruption and the fact that ‘no one goes to jail.’ How is that person supposed to ‘end up in jail’ if, just like the one raging at the screen, they want to settle their issue with money — quickly, quietly, and without fuss?"
