Servant of the People faction leader Arakhamiia says Zelenskyy's remarks about MP mobilisation were misinterpreted

The Servant of the People party has said that in his comments to journalists regarding the crisis in the Ukrainian parliament, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was referring to discussions on legislative changes that would allow MPs to serve as members of the military and did not mean the forced mobilisation of MPs.

Source: Servant of the People faction leader Davyd Arakhamiia in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "There is an extremely important nuance here. There is what the president actually said, and there are certain snippets and words that were interpreted arbitrarily.

We reviewed the president's remarks in full. He said that an MP either works or fights – just like every citizen of Ukraine. We have discussed this many times: right now in Ukraine you either work, pay taxes and contribute to defence, or you stand on the front line defending the country.

Many MPs understand this. Some of them have made requests expressing a desire to join the Armed Forces, but the legislation currently does not allow it. There are individual colleagues who are attached to certain units and carry out some work there, while attending parliamentary sessions on plenary days. However, legally they are not military personnel – they are members of parliament.

Clearly, this is what was meant. That the president is ready to discuss legislative changes with parliament that would allow MPs to serve as members of the military."

Background: Media outlets citing an off-the-record briefing by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that during a conversation with journalists, he commented on the crisis in the Verkhovna Rada, adding that MPs would have to get to work; otherwise, he would be ready to initiate a review of mobilisation-related changes so that they could go and fight.

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