“Too many cold-hearted people”: veteran announces political plans after criticizing parliament
12 January 15:02
EXCLUSIVE
War veteran and social activist Oleg Simoroz announced on the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian" his intention to pursue a political career, sharply criticizing the current quality of Ukrainian politicians. According to him, he sees himself only in a team of like-minded people, and “playing alone” in politics leads to a loss of reputation and absorption by oligarchic projects.
“I have never been interested and will not be interested now… playing alone is doomed to make you part of some oligarchic project and destroy your reputation. I have never been interested in getting into parliament,” Simoroz said.
He supports the idea of greater representation of military personnel and veterans in politics, given their role in defending the state. However, he insists that veteran status alone is not enough.
“Look, the military must be represented, the military environment must be represented, given the number of veterans, the number of military personnel, and their role in the future of this state. This is absolutely fair, and I can agree 100%. It is very important that these are high-quality experts. And here, after all, you have to think with your head, and not with that place where people sometimes use it in the final decision in the elections,” Simoroz noted.
Just being a good guy is not enough, according to our interlocutor. Every former military person who stood up to defend the country in a difficult moment deserves a seat in parliament or local councils, but they must also have knowledge, emphasizes Oleg Simoroz.
“Well, sorry, if you’re a nobody, if you have zero knowledge, if you’re just, yeah, we’re just kids there now, but that’s not how it works. Sorry, there are too many non-experts and incompetent people in the current parliament,” he said, adding that he personally encounters low-skilled elected officials in the work of the social policy committee, which is responsible for providing prosthetics to military personnel.
Symoroz cited the example of deputies who “in five years have not learned to write bills” and whose work does not reach the level of a first-year law student. He stressed that this problem is systemic and affects all major political forces.
In his opinion, the path to politics for a veteran should lie through expert development, education, and community work, and not just through populist slogans.
He was particularly vocal in his opposition to the use of military merits to “cover up” a questionable reputation or past actions in the interests of the oligarchy.
“The country will face many more problems if… military service becomes an indulgence. Then our killer judges will continue to be judges… Lyashko will be making state policy,” Simoroz said.
He stated outright that he would not cooperate with people whose reputation, in his opinion, is tarnished, even if they have military merits.
