In Ukraine, relations between President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Verkhovna Rada, which until now had been considered loyal to the president and his administration, have unexpectedly deteriorated.
The first signs of this were noticed back in July, when parliament suddenly decided to declare a break in its work for almost a month.
Today, Zelenskyy made a rather harsh statement on this issue, calling on the Rada to hold a meeting “as soon as possible.” According to him, urgent approval is required for bills on payments to fighters for the operation in Kursk, granting Ukrainian citizenship to foreigners in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their families, captured weapons, and stripping collaborators of their ranks and awards.
"Of course, in addition to these decisions I mentioned, there are some other, no less important legislative initiatives that strengthen our independence, in particular, spiritual independence, as well as government work to implement them. All this needs to be done really quickly," Zelenskyy said.
And parliament hasn't met for over three weeks.
Formal reason: the opposition is demanding a vote on a law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and, as a coercive measure, has blocked the parliamentary rostrum.
The new plenary session will be held on the 20th of August, and it is expected that one of the first issues will be the church bill.
However, there is another version, according to which the work of parliament actually stopped due to a behind-the-scenes struggle over the prime minister's seat.
Strana reported that since the end of June, rumors have been circulating about a possible reshuffle of Denys Shmyhal, who currently heads the government, with First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyridenko. This personnel decision is advocated by the head of the Ukrainian People's Party, Andriy Yermak, and it is believed that Zelensky has already made a decision to change the head of government.
However, the “reset” has not yet taken place. According to the version widespread in parliamentary circles, this is happening due to hidden resistance within the parliament, which is either supported or even led by the head of the pro-presidential “Servant of the People” faction, David Arakhamia.
According to opposition MP Oleksiy Honcharenko (European Solidarity), “good and diverse relations” have developed between the prime minister and Arakhamia. At the same time, the faction head positions himself as a “decision-making center” independent of Yermak.
“That's why he decided to fight for Shmyhal,” the parliamentarian wrote on his Telegram channel.
