Ukrainian government officially shelves controversial mobilization bill for revision

The Cabinet of Ministers has withdrawn the contentious mobilization bill that it had previously registered in the Verkhovna Rada, according to the draft law card on the website of the parliament.

The bill was withdrawn, its status is currently "removed from consideration".

The regulations of the Verkhovna Rada provide that a draft law can be withdrawn by the subject of the right of legislative initiative, who introduced it, before such a bill is included in the agenda of the parliamentary session.

On Thursday, the lawmakers were supposed to consider in the first reading the bill on mobilization, taking into account the recommendations of the defense committee. However, at a closed session of the Conciliation Council and a meeting with the military command, it was decided to return the draft law to the government for revision.

The representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, reported that at today's meeting, the government withdrew the draft law for its revision.

On December 25, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers registered a draft law, which provides for changes to the processes of mobilization, military registration and service.

On January 4, the Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence began work on the draft law on mobilization. There are questions about the norms on almost all 73 pages of the bill, said committee secretary Kostenko.

The mobilization bill will not be adopted in the form in which it was submitted for consideration, said the chairman of the committee Zavitnevych.