Ukraine’s criticized draft bill on mobilization withdrawn for amendments

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s hotly debated draft law on tightening mobilization rules was returned to the government for further work, the parliamentary speaker said on Thursday.

The bill would enable Kyiv to call up more people to the army as the war with Russia approaches the two-year mark. The draft proposals included electronic call-ups and series of tight sanctions for those who flout the law on mobilization.

After a meeting between parliamentary leadership and military commanders, speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said the bill would be reworked.

“A joint decision was approved to send all developed recommendations and proposals to the government,” Stefanchuk said on Telegram.

Lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said there will be no movement in parliament on this particular draft in the nearest future.

Immediately after Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, thousands of Ukrainians rushed to enlist and defend their homeland. However, nearly two years into the war, many men are trying to avoid the fight.

The draft law was submitted by the government after consultations with military and immediately drew criticism from the public and politicians.

Lawmakers and analysts said that some of its provisions violate the constitution and carry corruption risks.

The parliamentary committee for security and defence has been reviewing the draft for days before expected first reading, and its decision has been postponed several times.

The debate of the legislation also highlighted a rift in parliament with several opposition MPs from the ex-president’s “European Solidarity” party accusing parliamentary leadership of violating the rules of the parliamentary procedures and preventing coordinated work.

“This is really the worst organization of the draft law process that I have seen in 10 years,” Zheleznyak, a member of the Holos party, said on Telegram.

The draft law needs to be passed in several readings and then signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy said last month the military had proposed mobilising 450,000-500,000 more people. Army Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has said the figure takes into account military plans and projections of possible losses. Military analysts say the half a million figure would be for the whole year.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash and Yuliia Dysa, Editing by Angus MacSwan)