Ukraine: discussions on the mobilization bill – "more questions than answers" (video)

A flurry of criticism and accusations hit the Ukrainian government after the bill was introduced into parliament and made public with changes to the main provisions on mobilization.

“The draft law on amendments to certain legislative acts regarding the improvement of certain issues of mobilization, military registration and military service” raised a lot of questions, and not all of them have ready answers. Roman Kostenko, secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, says:

“The norms contained there raise more questions than they provide answers. People and specialists from various fields call me every minute with questions or comments on the text. Therefore, we are waiting for at least some explanations from the subjects of this legislative initiative.”

In his opinion, the bill contains many “incomprehensible norms and restrictions” that are perceived as hard. The head of the Kharkov human rights group, Evgeniy Zakharov, agrees with him. He drew attention, for example, to the fact that the document completely lacks any mention of the right to exemption from mobilization of persons with disability group III. According to the bill, only persons with group I or II disabilities and those temporarily unfit for health reasons, who receive a deferment of up to six months, are exempt from mobilization. quotes its DW edition:

“Well, which of the III group disabled people are soldiers? I understand why such a norm appeared, since there are many abuses – those who can serve buy certificates of disability, deceive, hide. Society is outraged by this. Another thing is that everyone must update their data “, going through a medical commission again and confirming your disability is normal. But mobilizing disabled people is wrong.”

The European Solidarity faction also criticized the bill. Its co-chair Irina Gerashchenko announced disagreement with proposals for demobilization only after three years of service. She wrote on Facebook:

“Can you imagine three years near Bakhmut or Avdeevka? And there are units that have been at zero (the front line) for two years and are exhausted. We will seek the right to demobilization in two years, if the military man has been not in the rear all this time, but at zero “.

Gerashchenko believes that the bill contains “anti-constitutional, blatant norms in terms of restrictions on citizens.” We are talking about the introduction during mobilization of the above-mentioned restrictions for those liable for military service and reservists who did not appear, as required by the summons, at the recruiting station or military unit:

“It is obvious that this opens up space for abuse on the part of the TCC, because according to their decision, a number of restrictions will be applied to those liable for military service that can turn the life of Ukrainian men into hell. After all, we are talking about an extrajudicial deprivation of the right to dispose of their property, etc., even if you have illnesses or other reasons for deferment, but the TCC did not see them.”

The Batkivshchyna faction stated that it would not vote for the government bill on mobilization. Faction leader Yulia Tymoshenko said:

“In this version (…) the law does not solve the problem, it is ineffective, unconstitutional, and in this form our team will not vote for it.”

Despite sharp criticism, the government, including Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, has not yet commented on the situation around the bill. Silent and pro-presidential parliamentary faction “Servant of the People” On December 26, President Zelensky said in a video message that it would be correct if such norms were discussed and adopted behind the scenes:

“So that people understand what the vision of the military command is, what are the motives for accepting certain rules and conditions that the deputies propose, and how the issues that our soldiers already have are resolved.”

Bearing in mind the government’s silence regarding the bill it introduced, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny noted at a press conference on December 26 that this is not the military’s business:

“We are an army. We must only fight. We must receive resources and carry out tasks. We cannot think about interfering in civilian life. There are corresponding central authorities for this.”

Political scientist Vladimir Fesenko explains the lack of reaction from the Cabinet of Ministers by the reluctance of the authorities to take responsibility for tightening the conditions of mobilization. In its current form, the introduced bill has a high chance of being defeated in the Rada, he predicts. To prevent this from happening, the document must be carefully agreed upon with all parties at the stage of discussion in the relevant parliamentary committee, in order to then adopt it as quickly as possible and strengthen the Ukrainian army with new people:

“Politicians have started playing political football because no one wants to take responsibility for decisions that are unpopular in society. They think about ratings and forget that this is the path to Ukraine’s loss or a shameful world on Russia’s terms. Now we need to forget feuds, ratings and popularity , find consensus on controversial issues and vote for this bill.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28onoc_GJjM

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