President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has explained in detail in his response to the petition why members of the Verkhovna Rada are not being mobilized.
This is stated in Zelenskyy's response to an electronic petition on the mobilization of parliamentarians, published on January 7, which received the 25,000 votes required for consideration, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
Zelenskyy noted that according to the Constitution of Ukraine, the only legislative body in Ukraine is the parliament - the Verkhovna Rada, the constitutional composition of which is four hundred and fifty parliamentarians.
As of today, the Verkhovna Rada has 401 parliamentarians, which is the lowest figure in the years of Ukraine's independence.
He also explained that the exclusive powers of the Verkhovna Rada include, in particular, the adoption of laws, decisions on which are made by a majority of its constitutional composition.
Zelenskyy notes that the legislation allows MPs to participate remotely in committee meetings and vote for decisions. At the same time, the legislation of Ukraine does not provide for the remote participation of MPs in plenary sessions of the parliament and the adoption of laws.
"Therefore, the lack of a quorum at a plenary session will make it impossible to legitimately adopt laws on which the maintenance of the life of the entire state depends," he noted.
The response also notes that international experience shows that lawmakers during World War II were not forcibly mobilized, but went to the front voluntarily.
"Forced mobilization of Members of Parliament of Ukraine can be regarded as forcing them to perform certain duties or make certain decisions, have negative consequences, such as the loss of independence of the people's deputy of Ukraine, a decrease in the effectiveness of his activities, and also violate the principles of democratic governance and the separation of powers," the President notes.
He also noted that as of today, there are facts of voluntary entry of MPs and civil servants into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, therefore, the process of mobilization of both MPs and civil servants is carried out taking into account their voluntary consent.
At the same time, Zelenskyy informed that he had addressed the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk with a request to process the proposals set out in the electronic petition and inform the author about the results of its consideration.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in September, an electronic petition to Zelenskyy on reducing the mobilization age for men from 60 to 50 years old gained the 25,000 votes necessary for consideration.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.