Situation in Rada under control, work underway to return to normal operating mode - Arakhamia

Situation in Verkhovna Rada is under control, and work is underway to return to parliament’s operating mode to which society is accustomed, stated head of Servant of the People parliamentary faction David Arakhamia.

"Society is used to this parliament working like clockwork. Yes, there are certain difficulties, and we have voiced them, but the situation is under control, and as we have already said, work is being carried out so that the Verkhovna Rada returns to the mode of operation to which society is accustomed," Arakhamia said in comment to Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.

According to him, to settle situation, it is necessary to work at all levels. "The situation is difficult throughout the parliament, but it is obvious that Servant of the People has the greatest influence on voting results, so work within the faction is a priority. We will work in groups, study the opinions of colleagues and form a vision of how we move forward," Arakhamia noted.

In addition, head of faction said that work is underway to improve cooperation between parliament and government of Yulia Svyrydenko.

"We are also working with the Prime Minister of Ukraine on a plan to improve the interaction of the government with the parliament. I hope everyone is as constructive as possible on this issue," Arakhamia said.

He emphasized that Verkhovna Rada of IX convocation has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to make most difficult decisions, for which there was lack of political will in all previous convocations.

"Since 2019, and throughout the full-scale invasion, the parliament has been coping with its work – both when it was necessary to promptly respond to Covid, and when it was necessary to declare martial law, and when deputies held meetings in semi-surrounded Kyiv, and when a legislative base was needed to quickly obtain the status of a candidate for EU membership. No previous parliament worked in such conditions, so some decisions are made faster, some longer, but in the end they are made," Arakhamia reminded.

Head of faction asked media representatives not to dramatize events in parliament.

"A separate request to journalists who also live in this country – do not resort to exaggerations in assessing the situation, relying on ephemeral statements of several blogger-deputies. Because whether someone likes this parliament or not – inside the country we will definitely all reach an understanding as citizens. What is important is how the enemy manipulates this information today," Arakhamia noted.

He also stressed that despite all circumstances, every deputy understands responsibility that lies with parliament.

"The question is not whether we move forward or not. The question is how we move. And the answer to it will definitely be found," Arakhamia is convinced.

As reported, earlier People’s Deputy of Ukraine, leader of European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko expressed conviction that Ukraine is in deep parliamentary crisis. He also calls for creation of joint team for negotiations with partners, which should include representatives of various political forces.

Deputy head of Servant of the People faction Andriy Motovylovets stated on March thirteen that key reason for failures of voting on bills under programs with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) is crisis within Servant of the People faction, members of which do not wish to vote after being served with suspicions by NABU and SAPO. "The key problem is that the Servant of the People faction has lost its core. What is the core? When I collect votes in parliament, I clearly understand which deputies are definitely ready to support this or that law. It became difficult to do this after NABU and SAPO suspicions were served to five deputies from Servant of the People," the MP said.

According to him, core of Servant of the People faction previously included 180 deputies, but now only 111. Meanwhile, seventeen MPs have already been summoned for interrogation.

On Monday, deputy chairperson of Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Olga Vasylevska-Smagliuk (Servant of the People) drew attention of colleagues in closed faction chat to need to accumulate votes for voting on bills, writing: "if everyone is silent, no one speaks to each other, then there are two ways: changing the operational leadership of the faction, which cannot cope with the accumulation of votes, dialogue and constructive actions… or do we disperse? Well, why torture each other?". This message was distributed on Telegram by People’s Deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko (European Solidarity faction).