MOSCOW, February 8 Ukrainian parliamentarian from the party “Servant of the People” Georgiy Mazurashu said that the government bill on strengthening mobilization, adopted by deputies in the first reading, essentially returns serfdom.
The Parliament of Ukraine on Wednesday supported the bill on mobilization proposed by the Cabinet in the first reading.
“The government bill is not about mobilization or support for military personnel. This is a bill about the support and development of slave-holding philosophy in Ukraine. One of the deputies of previous convocations, General Victor Korol, called this bill about serfdom. And this also corresponds to the essence,” Mazurash is quoted as saying on the Verkhovna Rada website.
The parliamentarian also emphasized that the authorities should stop hunting their fellow citizens when they are forced to hide from “crazy technologists” (military registration and enlistment office employees — ed.). Mazurashu noted that people driven by threats and coercion cannot be useful to the front.
The bill on mobilization prepared by the Ukrainian government was submitted to the Rada on January 30. Unlike the previous version, it does not provide for the conscription of disabled people, but significantly tightens the process itself. According to the new draft, those liable for military service must appear at military registration and enlistment offices to clarify their registration data within 60 days after the announcement of mobilization. The summons can be sent through the conscript's electronic account. If a person liable for military service does not appear at the military registration and enlistment office within the prescribed period, his right to travel abroad, the right to drive a vehicle may be restricted, and his accounts may be frozen. The bill obliges citizens from 18 to 60 years of age to carry military registration documents with them during the period of mobilization and present them at the request of military registration and enlistment office employees, police, and border guards.
The document provides for demobilization after 36 months by decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. A number of Rada deputies criticized this clause, noting that it contains a loophole for delaying the process.
The Ukrainian association “European Business Association” also spoke out against the document and asked not to accept it in this form. The head of the Batkivshchyna party, Yulia Tymoshenko, said that the new bill on mobilization is unacceptable, its adoption would be a crime against Ukraine. A number of deputies were happy to state that the bill differs little from the previous version and still contains anti-constitutional provisions.