The whole country is currently living towards the elections.However, one often finds himself unable to see the word for trees in all these discussions. Wekeep speculating aboutwho will win, butbarely anyonetalks about whichchallengesthe next presidentwill be faced with – what will happenaftertheelections?
There are many challenges, waiting to be dealt with, and in the next paragraphs we will try to sum up at least some of them.
Protection of sovereignty
As the war continues, the aggressor doesn’t show any desire to put an end to it. It’s worth noting that this is a war that can still go on for many years, and so it might be useful to take an example of other countries, such as Israel, who have been protecting their freedom for years: creating a modernized army, establishing territorial defence and opposing propaganda. The aggressor is the only one capable of ending this war, since Ukraine simply can’t lay down arms when it’s fighting for its independence and survival.
International cooperation
Ukraine needs a strong international coalition in its defence against the aggressor. There’s a need for assistance from our partners in conducting reforms in various fields and staunchpromotion of Ukrainian goods and services on export markets.
Some countries, such as Italy, have already called for abandoning the sanctions against the RF. The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that, despite the sanctions, Russia’s economic influence on various countries is increasing. The article referred to countries such as Italy, Austria and the Netherlands.
We’re equally very aware of the situation surrounding the construction of the “Nord Stream
The world is lacking in unity and we are witnessing a collapse of the international security system. It’s up to the next president to maintain the international coalition that supports Ukraine and to simultaneously promote our national economic interests around the world.
Economic growth
At the beginning of 2019, the World Bank has exacerbated its forecast for economic growth. In particular, they have stated that for 2019-2020 the expected growth will lie between 0.6-1.1%. If this forecast will appear to be truthful, the gap between Ukraine and developed countries will grow. Catching up with Poland will require decades, yet we don’t have the time for that.
Only economic growth of 8-10% gives us any chance on success. To achieve this, it’s imperative to demonopolize the economy, reduce regulations as much as possible and introduce transparent taxation.
The legislation to achieve this has already been poured into bills which are at the discretion of the parliament; the only thing that needs to happen is for them to pass enough votes and to be implemented. It’s certain that the Verkhovna Radawill support the president if he chooses to introduce a bill on the accession of electric and gas rates to standard tariffing.
Labour migration
According to employers’ estimates, over 1 million Ukrainians of working age have left Ukraine in 2018. Currently, it’s difficult to find qualitative workers in Ukraine – ask the entrepreneurs, who sometimes search capable workforces for months in order to close vacancies. If we continue on this road, Ukraine will be inhabited with only children and pensioners.
To stop this outflow of people, we have to create attractive conditions and job opportunities here. This can be done by fighting the pressure on small and medium-sized businesses, ensuring free and easy access to the justice system, protecting the right to property and to remove barriers for investors.
In the first place, mechanisms should be implemented to ensure the independence of the judiciary branch from other branches, so it can exercise control on the proper execution of the law. Entrepreneurs should become those people who are needed by the authorities, and to whom the government is willing to make attractive offers in order for them to return to Ukraine.
Cooperation with the parliament
As Ukraine is a parliamentary-presidential republic, the parliament is seen as the centre for decision-making by Constitutional law.
Therefore, it’s the president’s obligation to initiate and suggest those bills which the Ukrainian citizens are waiting for, and which the deputies should vote for. This is only possible when the projects fulfil their tasks, which are usually described in the explanatory notes.
Parliamentary elections
The stakes will be even higher with the parliamentary elections than they were with the presidential elections. We will be choosing both our deputies and our government at the same time. The president’s task as an institution is to guarantee free and competitive elections, which will take place without provocation, corruption, force, violence and external influence.
As a politician, the president will strive for a Verkhovna Radawith as many of his party-members as possible. This, however, will only be possible if he manages to prove his capabilities and fulfil his promises in the first couple of months.
