Defense Ministry developed three versions of demobilization bill – MP

Oleksandr Fediyenko, an MP and member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, said this in a commentary to Ukrinform.

 “Representatives of the National Security Committee visited the Defense Ministry to hear proposals on the so-called draft law on demobilization,” he said.

The MP noted that none of these bills directly contains the term “demobilization”.

“The authors provide for rotation and treatment, which have a rather long term: three, four or five months,” said Fediyenko.

The politician also said that the Defense Ministry has developed three versions of the bill, “none of them has been submitted to the committee for discussion.”

“Despite the fact that the Defense Ministry said they needed another three months to develop or improve certain mechanisms, we are waiting for the government to submit the draft law to Parliament. Let me remind you that according to the current legislation, the Cabinet of Ministers should have submitted this document before December 18, 2024. In order to somehow accelerate this process, we, the parliamentarians, are trying to encourage prompt action,” Fediyenko said.

As Ukrinform reported, on April 11, the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on mobilization. The legislative initiative was supported by 283 MPs.

By adopting the law, the Verkhovna Rada obliged the government (the Ministry of Defense) to draft a bill on demobilization within eight month.

The Defense Ministry was required to develop a draft law by December 18.

On January 10, First Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk announced that the draft law on demobilization during martial law had already been prepared by the government and was ready to be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada. However, he noted that a number of mechanisms would need to be developed to replace the large number of people who would be subject to the law.