mr president developments in ukraine clearly illustrate the old saying about how power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely
the present ruling élite has been exercising power since the election of president yanukovych and much of what has been done points in the direction of favouring the concentration of power
this is all the more striking if we recall the results of the presidential elections which gave yanukovych a small majority and demonstrated that he had strong support in the south and east of the country only
yet and this is the striking feature of ukrainian politics currently there has been a steady movement in the direction of marginalising alternative centres of power
the media rule of law the opposition the autonomy of the state administration have all been affected
what is particularly worrying is that the secret police have acquired the capacity to intervene very extensively in the affairs of the country
all this augurs badly for the future especially if ukrainians genuinely seek a european future because the system being built by yanukovych points away from europe not towards it
the most that can be said for the changes is that they have brought a degree of stability to the country but increasingly this stability foreshadows stasis and immobility
at the same time it is true yanukovych has certainly improved relations with russia but has thereby accepted a degree of subordination to moscow that is new
whether ukrainian society will accept this transformation in the longer term is an open question
