The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has suspended Chairman Dmytro Razumkov from conducting plenary sessions of parliament for two plenary sessions.
The relevant decision at the Tuesda meeting was supported by 240 MPs, of which 200 MPs were from the Servant of the People faction. The For the Future and Dovira factions gave 16 and 18 votes in favor, respectively, the Holos faction and the non-factional deputies gave three votes each.
However, ten MPs from Holos, one MP from Dovira, six MPs from Servant of the People, some 18 MPs from Batkivschyna, some 24 MPs from the Opposition Platform – For Life, all 27 MPs from European Solidarity and nine non-factional parliamentarians voted against such a decision.
First deputy head of the Servant of the People faction Oleksandr Korniyenko said during the consideration of this issue that this is due to Razumkov’s refusal to put to the vote of the conciliatory council on Monday proposals on the agenda of the plenary sessions of October 5 to October 8.
“We believe that by such actions, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov, neglected the right of parliamentary factions to submit proposals to the weekly agenda of plenary sessions, which is a gross violation of the rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The deputy faction of Servant of the People, For the Future and Dovira […] make a proposal to remove the Verkhovna Rada chairman from the holding plenary sessions for two plenary days,” Korniyenko said.
Razumkov declared a conflict of interest and instructed First Deputy Chairmna Ruslan Stefanchuk to conduct the plenary session when considering this issue.
“For two years in this room, we worked so that the law was the same for everyone. You can move in two ways: follow the law or according to political expediency. Today I see what is happening in the room. And if there is a desire to follow the second [way] rather than by law, is the right of MPs. I will not convince anyone, everyone in this room is adults, smart people,” Razumkov said.
“If there is a desire to change the Verkhovna Rada chairman, I said that I would not delay this process. As soon as the application was received, we issued signature lists, in the evenings we received an application for the launch of the procedure, immediately, according to the Regulations, it was launched, but I think that not everyone is happy with this. You need to quickly. So, you can do whatever you want in this room,” he said.
Razumkov also said the position does not matter to him: “This is a tool. Even without a position I will be able to implement everything that we promised in 2019.”
The Holos party called the dismissal of Razumkov another violation of the rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada and an attempt to take parliament under the control of the President’s Office.
“The chairman was dismissed from his post while the issue of his resignation was being considered, for two days. This happened with a gross violation of the law. There was no argumentation regarding the chairman’s resignation, as well as all opposition factions. But, unfortunately, we have some colleagues cooperating with the President’s Office, and they gave votes for the dismissal of Razumkov,” leader of Holos Kira Rudyk said.
According to her, despite the fact that Razumkov started his political life as a representative of the pro-government team, the party opposes his resignation, as he follows the rules.
“If the chairman is replaced, the opposition will have half or even three times less opportunities to defend its position not only from the rostrum, but also directly with journalists. Since the so-called law on oligarchs is to be signed soon, which is unconstitutional, this is another reason why they want to replace the chairman so quickly,” Rudyk said.
As reported, Head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction David Arakhamia sent a letter on behalf of the parliamentary faction recalling the chairman of the parliament. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called the issue of Razumkov’s tenure as chairman of the Verkhovna Rada “intra-factional.”
