To show that he was determined seriously to cleanse inherited corrupt malfeasance in post-1965 Singapore, youthful Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew sacked a deputy prime minister, cabinet ministers, heads of official state enterprises, and senior civil servants as soon as they began to live beyond their means or accepted blandishments or favors from businesses seeking government contracts or other kinds of preferment. Lee knew that tolerating even minor corruption would make good governance and improved living standards impossible.
Lee was ruthless. Before too long, his associates, members of Singapore’s parliament, the commercial establishment, and the citizens of Singapore realized that Lee’s government was clean and that the wild, thieving days of British-run colonial Singapore were no more. Belief in the integrity of Lee’s administration, foreign investment, and escalating prosperity followed for the inhabitants of the Singaporean city-state.
Ukraine is much more populous than Singapore, altogether much larger geographically, and enmeshed in a bitter war with invading Russians. Yet, like Singapore, Ukraine has a history of corruption that President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged to undo. He knows, as Lee did in Singapore, that corruption saps the credibility of any attempt to rule democratically, and with the full support of a country’s people. In Ukraine’s case, too, dependent as it is on thorough and expanding financial and military support from Western allies, neighbors, and NATO, anything that detracts from Ukraine’s righteousness undermines the war against Putin’s Russians and harms the image of a wounded nation fighting for its survival and for the freedom of the West and of the world.
That is among the salient reasons why Zelensky this week smartly sacked two deputy ministers, six regional governors, the deputy head of his own presidential office, and a deputy prosecutor general. “There will be no return to what used to be in the past,” said the president. Zelensky is intent on restoring “trust.” He also emphasized that each of the fired persons had violated “the principle of justice.”
It is widely alleged that some of those removed from office had benefited themselves by paying inflated prices for army food supplies. There must have been over-invoicing and kickbacks. Eggs, for instance, were procured for three times their going cost.
One of those persons fired had openly driven around Kyiv in a donated large SUV meant to be used only for official government business and humanitarian missions. Another had zipped off to Spain on holiday with his family instead of tending to the business of war. But perhaps the biggest catch was the deputy minister of infrastructure, now accused of pocketing a $400,000 bribe from a commercial concern seeking to sell generators and other equipment to a darkened and beleaguered nation.
Conceivably, Zelensky and the national Anti-Corruption Action Center have only skimmed the visible layer of Ukrainian sleaze and influence peddling. Doubtless, if deputy ministers are being bribed and procurements are being secured, or at least seemingly secured, by illicit means, Zelensky has not yet eradicated corruption from a country that, before he became president and before Putin invaded, had a solid reputation during two decades’ worth of leaders of being riddled with peculation and side deals.
Before the war, Transparency International’s well-regarded Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Ukraine 122nd of 180 countries, above Mexico, Gabon, and Russia (#136), but below Moldova, Zambia, El Salvador, Algeria, and Egypt. Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Singapore have almost always filled the top ten places on the Index. Where their scores were in the 80s, Ukraine’s most recent score was 32. In 2021, the United States ranked 27th, with a score of 67, tied with Chile. (The newest CPI scores will be released in Berlin next week.)
Large sums of money from outside, as well as the considerable sacrifices of Ukrainians, are supporting Ukraine’s war effort. Combat is a time of chaos, too. So it is no doubt likely that Zelensky’s determination to reduce if not extirpate corrupt tendencies is much more difficult to accomplish than anything Lee faced in Singapore. The exigencies of fighting Russia must also interfere with, or preclude the pursuit of profiteering and dishonest dealings. That is why it is not only remarkable and a splendid test of committed leadership that Zelensky, seemingly without prodding from his allies, has started to cleanse his Augean stables.
Doing so empowers him and, if he can continue to rout out those whose greed undermines the repulse of Russia, he will redouble the already formidable defenses of Ukraine while reassuring allies and backers that fewer Ukrainians than before are profiting from the national mobilization for war. Any other leadership posture would be disastrous in the face of Russian deceit.
Once more, Zelensky demonstrates how thoroughly he embodies the best of leadership under fire.
Tank Reinforcements are Coming
American and German tanks are coming to the rescue. At least, that was yesterday’s welcome news. Even if it takes months (as is likely) newly manufactured M1 Abrams tanks and vast amounts of powerful ammunition are promised to Ukraine. President Biden decided that unity with European allies was paramount; Germany wants any Russian retaliation to target American as well as European forces. It was also reported that the Abrams can be reconfigured to run on diesel or ordinary gas, not just jet fuel. Thus, whenever those 68-ton vehicles arrive, they can be used to pummel the Russians.
Sooner, fortunately, Ukraine will acquire the slightly lighter and more mobile Leopard II tanks from German stocks, from Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Norway, and from other NATO nations. Apparently, several hundred diesel-fueled Leopards are readily available, with more capable of being shifted if needed. Denmark is supplying twenty Piranha tanks. France may send LeClerc battle tanks.
These tanks could be game changers, especially if Ukraine is able relatively quickly to puncture Russian defenses in eastern and southern Ukraine. Then, just conceivably, Ukrainian negotiators could enter peace talks on a more promising and stronger footing than now.