New parliament convenes with plans for 10 constitutional amendments

The first session of the ninth convocation of Ukraine’s
parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, convened this morning with 424 MPs taking their
oaths. The People’s Servant party, loyal to President Zelensky, will attempt to
approve about 10 constitutional amendments, said Ruslan Stefanchuk, the likely
first deputy speaker, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine. They include reducing
the parliamentary corps to 300 MPs, as well as a provision confiscating a
parliamentary mandate in the event of absentee voting and absenteeism. Such
amendments will require 300 out of 424 votes, while The People’s Servant by
itself commands 254 votes.

People’s Servant MPs will control 20 out of 23
parliamentary committees, the pravda.com.ua news site reported. About 300 bills
have been drafted already, Stefanchuk said, which address the political
immunity of MPs, a presidential impeachment mechanism, economic issues,
anti-corruption issues, as well as a reboot of the judicial system and law
enforcement.

Meanwhile, the new Cabinet of Ministers will be formed
immediately after today’s session, said Andriy Gerus, the likely head of the
parliamentary fuel and energy committee. It will be composed exclusively of
People’s Servant party members, he said.

Zenon Zawada: Today’s
session promises to be exciting. It’s clear that the president’s team wants to
take advantage of its position, in which its loyal faction commands the
majority and is ready to rubber stamp all initiatives without conflict. Given
just how large and inexperienced the People’s Servant faction is, with many MPs
vulnerable to lobbyists, we can expect it to begin to splinter in its unity no
later than a year from now.