Rada faction head warns of looming parliamentary crisis as numerous MPs consider resigning
A "big crisis is looming" in the Verkhovna Rada, as many MPs want to resign their seats, David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People faction, said during the discussion "2024: scenarios for the country", which was organized by LB.ua and EFI Group.
Today there is no longer unity in the Ukrainian parliament, which was there at the beginning of the all-out war.
"There was unity a year and a half ago, but now the situation in this regard is even worse than before the full-scale war," Arakhamia said.
He noted that the country is facing a parliamentary crisis.
"A big crisis is approaching with the parliament in general, because in my faction alone I have 17 applications to resign mandates. That is, we only have 401 people in the parliament, we will definitely let one more go due to medical reasons – there will be 400 people," said the Servant of the People leader.
The lawmaker emphasized that at least 226 votes are needed to pass decisions, and it is difficult to collect them from 400 MPs.
"In other factions and parties, I also know that there are people who want to leave. We have decided for ourselves that we will not vote for the resigning of mandates, only if there is a real medical situation, but otherwise, there are no more conditions under which we will vote for resigning mandates. In order to keep the parliament legitimate," he concluded.
On October 4, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the situation with the elections is difficult, but if the Verkhovna Rada makes the necessary changes to the legislation and the safety of the voters is ensured, then the elections could take place.
Already on November 6, the president stated that, in his opinion, the elections are still "not timely".
On January 19, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said that all branches of the Ukrainian government have decided that there will be no elections in the country during the war.
The Constitution of Ukraine expressly prohibits holding elections to the Verkhovna Rada during martial law. There is no clear prohibition in the Constitution regarding presidential elections, but it will be necessary to change the laws for them.
