Andrii SENCHENKO:
“What do you mean when talking about the threat of revenge? If it is the return of those people who had previously been the public faces of the government, then this threat is perhaps absent, in this respect. However, if we talk about the old approaches and old schemes of making the government work, it seems to me that one should talk not about revenge, but rather about the fact that the state has not parted with the old governance practices, as well as with the old system of relations between the government and the public.”
Viktoria PODHORNA:
“Of course, there were personnel changes in the government, bringing new people to the Cabinet and partly to the parliament as well. Still, the system of relations between the public and the government has not changed, and this is the key point for me, which shows that we may well see more than just a return of the old government. The question is, and it is put bluntly by EU experts, whether Ukraine will become a ‘failed state.’”
Oleksandr SOLONTAI:
“The political system is doing everything to integrate its new opponents, I mean the civil society, in itself, and find as many new faces as possible for itself. Conveniently, we had an early parliamentary election which has deprived the civil society of a tremendous number of new faces. The lists of the victorious political parties are full of people who, instead of showing a new quality of politics, have accepted the old rules of the game.”
Oleksandr YELIASHKEVYCH:
“My question is: Are the structures of the civil society ready to respond to today’s challenges? I think that after some time, we will have civic activists who will have gone through thick and thin. What we have today, though, is a lot of young activists who entered the government following their heroic street struggles, but, unfortunately, have failed the test of glory.”
