Current protests are not "for Fedorov" but for change in Zelenskyy’s way of governing – media
Protests in Ukraine are already moving beyond demands for individual personnel decisions by the authorities. Public discontent is increasingly directed against the very way the country is governed.
This is stated in an article by Inna Vedernikova for ZN.ua, Censor.NET reports.
Details
"If the causes of the protest do not disappear, neither will the protest itself. The abscess will seek an outlet. The current protest has long ceased to be "for Fedorov." Fedorov proved to be the trigger, the rallying point and perhaps the last straw.
"People who take to the streets with cardboard signs may not know the names of Duka, Kravchuk or Poklad. They may not understand the ‘Lozovyi amendments,’ the powers of SAPO or the intricacies of Bankova’s personnel policy. They may not yet have intellectually deconstructed this system. But they have already felt it. Intuitively. Emotionally. First-hand," the author believes.
According to Vedernikova, a particular individual can be replaced, but this will not solve the problem: another crisis will emerge tomorrow in place of the current one.
"Because the problem is no longer a particular individual. The problem is the method of governance that produces, selects, appoints and protects these people. ... If the protest does not disappear, the question is no longer how to quell it yet again. The question is how to channel a public demand that the authorities can no longer satisfy by rearranging figures within their own ranks," she stressed.
"The prospect of elections during the war, which Bankova could until recently have considered amid high public confidence in Zelenskyy and in the expectation of his victory, may at some point return for an entirely different reason. The authorities may have to open up the political system not because doing so would benefit them, but because society will demand it.
"They understand perfectly well that the cardboard-sign protest is not artificial, paid for or orchestrated by some cunning hand. It is the breath of people who are protesting not so much against a particular presidential decision as against the very way the country is governed," Vedernikova added.
Cabinet of Ministers reshuffle, Fedorov’s resignation and new Commander-in-Chief
- On July 14, the Verkhovna Rada supported a resolution on the resignation of Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. The entire Cabinet of Ministers automatically resigned with her.
- On July 15, Mykhailo Fedorov said that he was stepping down as head of the Defence Ministry.
- Rallies in support of Mykhailo Fedorov took place in Dnipro, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Cherkasy and other cities. Protesters are demonstrating against his resignation.
- On July 16, the Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint the new Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Serhii Koretskyi was appointed Prime Minister.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would nominate Yevhen Khmara for the post of Minister of Defence of Ukraine. Prior to this, he had instructed Khmara to act as head of the Ministry of Defence.
- Protests against Fedorov’s dismissal continued in Ukrainian cities. In addition to demanding that Fedorov be reinstated as Defence Minister, people called for the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
- On 21 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksandr Syrskyi from his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He appointed General Mykhailo Drapatyi to the post instead.
