I like Lviv’s Mayor. He sometimes walks to work, in contrast with most Ukrainian politicians. (See for example, Hennadiy Kernes of Kharkiv). They keep small armies around them for security.
Both he and the citizens of this great city have maintain a level of civility that’s downright inspiring. (here, here, here, here)
He’s hugely popular, and staunchly refuses to join any political party. The nationalist Svoboda party considers Lviv oblast to be their turf. I don’t mind nationalism. I think it’s a good thing, actually. But Svoboda is just plain stupid. They have bad economic ideas. They seem full of narcissists and control freaks. They also don’t like L’viv’s mayor, Andri Sadovi. There’s a long standing dispute. And now this headline:
New Prosecutor General of Ukraine to Prosecute Andrii Sadovi.
The new prosecutor is in the Svoboda Party. He’s a well-known character who, rumor has it, hasn’t shown his own real income tax declaration in three years, declaring only 13,000 hryyvnias per year. Perhaps this isn’t such a strong condemnation in Ukraine where it seems everybody cheats.
I doubt they’ll be able to follow through against such a popular guy. It would cost Svoboda too much credibility. I doubt that’s even the goal. It’s probably just a message or part of a back-room compromise they’re negotiating for.
I should probably add that the newspaper reporting this belongs to Sadovi. :)
Ahhh, Ukraine.
