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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Oksana Siroiid, who participated in creating anti-corruption legislation, spoke out against the practice of involving foreign experts in shaping and operating Ukrainian institutions. In her view, Ukrainians must take responsibility for the functioning of government bodies, rather than rely on representatives of other states. This was disclosed by the deputy speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation in an interview with the public initiative “Golka,” published on Hlavkom.
“Bringing in foreign experts to the process is a withdrawal of responsibility from oneself. This is infantilism and low self-worth. People say, look, I’m being beaten, I am a little girl. I will not deal with this on my own – I will go to the ‘big uncle,’ bring him here, and he will distribute it all for me. At some point, we must say: I am an adult and I take responsibility for myself,” Siroiid stated.
The former deputy speaker of the parliament also warned against the idea that the origin of foreign specialists guarantees their integrity.
“There is no need to think that in Europe or America people are born virtuous while in our country they are completely corrupt. If they could get more profit without paying taxes, they would do it. It is not the state that forbade them; they themselves agreed at the moment of state-building that it is better to pay taxes than to evade them,” she noted.
According to Siroiid, Ukraine spends significant effort trying to involve foreign experts in the work of its own institutions, but this mechanism alone cannot change the system.
“We spend colossal efforts lobbying Europeans, Americans, and the International Monetary Fund for three, albeit very respectable, foreigners, hoping they will bring us happiness. But as long as these people remain a foreign element, they will not change the system. Foreigners can be invited after we have agreed to act differently ourselves,” the former deputy speaker explained.
Siroiid links the problem to a broader question of accountability for the operation of state institutions. In her view, external participants cannot replace internal agreements on the rules by which the system should function.
As is known, Oksana Siroiid was a member of the VIII convocation of the Verkhovna Rada and from 2014 to 2019 served as Deputy Speaker. She participated in preparing the judicial reform and in work on the Constitutional Commission, and was also the author of the idea to create the Public Council of Integrity. Now Siroiid is an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and serves in the 2 Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Charter.”
The Public Council of Integrity is an independent civil society body in Ukraine that helps the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) to screen judges and candidates for judicial positions for integrity, ethics, and legality of wealth.
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