Kiev’s ruling party is preventing members from quitting despite cancelled elections and the extension of martial law
Many Ukrainian MPs want to resign, but others are preventing them from doing so; the ruling party believes that all lawmakers must muster on, its top MP David Arakhamia said in an interview on Monday.
The current, ninth Verkhovna Rada was elected in July 2019 in a snap election called by President Vladimir Zelensky following his inauguration. The Servant of the People party, which had been created so that the former comedian could enter politics, secured an unprecedented majority. Martial law has prevented the renewal of the unicameral national legislature this year, effectively extending its five-year term.
Arakhamia, who has headed the ruling party in the legislature since its creation, discussed the challenges of working under parliamentary rules with a shrinking roster of MPs. After the latest three resignations were confirmed last week, the 450-seat body has just 400 members. A mandate is revoked if a majority of at least 226 sitting MPs votes for it.
“In fact, the number of people who want to leave the parliament is much larger, but we don’t let them out, tell them we won’t vote for it,” Arakhamia explained to the television audience. Current members, he added, “have to sit to the end and adopt legislation that the state needs.”
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