Razumkov's Resignation: Suspension from Rada Sessions, Mandate and Possible Dismissal Date

Razumkov said he will sue if he is illegally deprived of his mandate as a people's deputy.

On October 2, People's Servant MPs in Truskavets collected the necessary signatures for the resignation of Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov and agreed to start the recall procedure on October 4. Here is what has happened in recent days. 

Zelensky's Opinion

According to the president, Razumkov, as a "servant," should have supported the party's position on sanctions and the fight against oligarchs, but he chose a different path. Zelensky said the Rada speaker is no longer a member of the Servant of the People team, and party members have a million questions for him. 

Volodymyr Zelensky
President of Ukraine

The party has a million questions, I heard all of them yesterday, a million questions for the Verkhovna Rada speaker. We all understand that today he is not a member of this team, and he says so quite openly. 

The president of Ukraine also called the question of Razumkov remaining as Rada speaker an "intra-factional" matter and noted that it was a mistake for the speaker to raise this issue publicly in front of the media. 

Volodymyr Zelensky 
President of Ukraine

The question of Dmitry Alexandrovich is, forgive me, really not a question for me. In general, I consider this an intra-factional issue. I think it is a big mistake on the part of Dima and the consultants working with him now that he is bringing these questions into the public sphere, to the media. There are no secrets, but I believe these people have different political views. And that is normal. We live in a democratic state. But if their (views - ed.) are different from those of the 73% who voted for this program, then that is normal too, it means you live your personal life. 

Suspension from Sessions

On October 5, people's deputies suspended Dmytro Razumkov from presiding over plenary sessions for two days. First Deputy Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk put to a vote the proposal from the People's Servant faction and the Dovira and Za Maybutnie groups to suspend Razumkov from chairing sessions. 

240 deputies supported the proposal, 200 of them from the presidential party. The suspension of the Rada speaker from sessions was initiated after a meeting of faction leaders with the speaker. 

People's Deputy Oleksandr Kornienko justified this initiative by citing a "gross violation of the rules" by Razumkov, related to the speaker's refusal to put the People's Servant proposals on the agenda for this week. Razumkov linked this step to an intention to force him out of office. 

Dmytro Razumkov
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada

If there is a desire to change the head of the Verkhovna Rada, I said: I will not delay this process. Signature sheets were immediately issued, and we handed them out. Yesterday we received a statement from Davyd Arakhamia on launching the procedure, and it was immediately launched in accordance with the rules. But I think not everyone is happy with this: it has to be fast and elegant. <...> Fine, you can do whatever you like in this hall. But for me the position means nothing, it is a tool. I can implement everything we promised in 2019 without the position. And I am sure there are enough people in this hall who will do it in the future. 

Razumkov said he knows the articles of the rules, but his colleagues do not want to "go by signal." He handed the chair to Stefanchuk. Deputy Iryna Heraschenko of European Solidarity noted that "the funeral of democracy" and "the destruction of parliamentarism" are taking place and that the country is being returned to the times of Yanukovych. 

Possible Dismissal Date

On October 7, parliament will consider the recall of Dmytro Razumkov from the post of speaker. 246 deputies voted for this date. 

Razumkov said the session on his resignation will be chaired either by First Deputy Ruslan Stefanchuk or by People's Servant MP Daniil Hetmantsev, since he did not sign the motion to dismiss the speaker. 

The Rada speaker noted that he will not resist the dismissal procedure, because for him "law is law." But Razumkov added that although the law exists, deputies apply it the way they want. 

Mandate

Razumkov said that by law his mandate cannot be revoked, but in general anything can happen: "Well, not by law, but we have all kinds of things happen." 

The speaker added that the vote on his dismissal will take place in "full compliance" with the Rada's rules. According to him, if there are 226 votes, there will be a new parliament speaker, and if not, he will continue working as usual. 

Later, Razumkov said he would sue if he is illegally deprived of his mandate as a people's deputy. 

Dmytro Razumkov
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada

Yes, I will defend my rights. Because this is no longer about the position, it is about the ability to do what I promised as a politician. And this will no longer be my own position, it will not be my post, but what people voted for, including me and colleagues who work within the walls of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. This is no longer about positions, but about people.