Ukrainian parliament committee recommends ouster of Bezuhla from Defense Committee post
Mariana Bezuhla (Photo: Facebook)

On January 8, the parliament's Committee on Rules of Procedure, Parliamentary Ethics and Administration of Verkhovna Rada's Work recommended that the project to recall Mariana Bezuhla from the post of deputy head of the Defense Committee, which was registered on Saturday, be included in the agenda of the legislature, reads a document on the website of the Ukrainian parliament.

The Rules of Procedure Committee adopted a conclusion on the draft resolution No. 10391, according to which the draft on the recall of Bezuhla from the position is recommended to be included in the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada session without a vote, to consider it and make a decision.

11 MPs initiated the draft resolution regarding Bezuhla, in particular the chairman of the committee Oleksandr Zavitnevych and the secretary of the committee Roman Kostenko. According to Ukrainian legislation, in the event of Bezuhla's recall, she will remain a member of this committee.  

REFERENCE.
Election of a new committee member, recall of a committee member, election or recall of the committee chair, first deputy, deputy chair, and secretary of the committee is carried out by adopting a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada. An official may be recalled from his/her position at his/her own request, due to unsatisfactory performance in the position or due to other circumstances that make it impossible for him/her to fulfill his/her duties. A request for recall must be agreed with the relevant faction under whose quota the MP was elected to office. A proposal for recall may be submitted by the Chair of the Rada or the relevant committee.

At the end of November 2023, Bezuhla declared that the leadership of the Armed Forces "must go." She claimed that Zaluzhnyi "failed to give the plan a vision for 2024." She also constantly blamed the general for problems at the front and in the Defense Forces. The President's Office urged "not to play in speculation".

In December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Bezuhla's criticism of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. According to him, Zaluzhnyi is his representative, like everyone else whom he appointed.

On January 5, the committee on national security recommended that the Verkhovna Rada recall Bezuhla from the post of deputy chair. The lawmaker herself replied that it was "only a recommendation from the committee" and said that the decision was "the most insidious".

Verkhovna RadadismissalMariana Bezuhla