There may not be vote on defense minister today. "Servants of the People" to hold separate meeting, - Vasylevska-Smahliuk (updated)

It is likely that the Verkhovna Rada will not vote on the appointment of a new Ukrainian defense minister on July 16.

This was reported on her Telegram channel by Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk, a lawmaker from the "Servant of the People" party, according to Censor.NET.

Initial details

"There are all signs that the vote on the defense minister will not take place today," the MP noted.

"There will be a separate meeting of the ‘Servants of the People’ faction to vote on the defense minister. This will take place after the vote on the new government," she clarified.

What led up to this?

On 14 July, the Verkhovna Rada approved a resolution on the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. The entire Cabinet automatically resigned along with her.
On 15 July, Mykhailo Fedorov announced that he was stepping down as head of the Ministry of Defence.
Prior to this, a number of media outlets and MPs had reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted to replace him with Ihor Klymenko – the current Minister of Internal Affairs.
Rallies in support of Mykhailo Fedorov took place in Dnipro, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Cherkasy and other cities. Participants are protesting against his resignation.
Zhelezniak called for consultations on the candidacy of the new defence minister. Stefanchuk agreed.

Author: Olena Gulayeva