True development is impossible without a long-term plan. The state is not an election campaign or a party that changes every few years. The state is a house that needs to be built for decades to come. And when each new government starts from scratch, the foundation never becomes solid.
The 35 years of independence have shown us the same mistake: the lack of a master development plan. We have had different governments, different slogans, different promises, but no single programme that would survive elections and leaders. The result was chaotic reforms, half-hearted decisions and lost decades.
A strategy is not a document in a folder or a nice speech in parliament. A strategy is a map that guides the country. It is a long-term guideline that determines where we are going: in the economy, in education, in medicine, in security, in culture. The strategy does not depend on elections, because it belongs to the people, not the government.
The political cycle is destroying the country because every government thinks about its rating, not the future. It makes decisions that have a quick effect, but does not build something that will bring results in 10 or 20 years. This is what mature politics is all about - thinking not about the next election season, but about the next generation.
Countries that have been successful have always had a strategy. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates - they all had clear long-term plans that were implemented regardless of who was in power. They realised that without this, there would be no development.
I am convinced that Ukraine has to make the same choice. We must abandon the here-and-now logic and adopt a master plan for at least 10 years ahead. We have to build a system where the strategy survives the elections and reforms become permanent rather than temporary.
Because there is no future without a strategy. And if we don't change this logic, in the next 35 years we will be talking about lost opportunities rather than development.
With faith in God, responsibility and the future.
I am honoured!
Andriy Gmyryn
