226: why Servant of People have calmed down about new coalition
On January 26, MP from Servant of the People Orest Salamakha was killed in a road accident in the Lviv region. The 33-year-old MP elected under the first-past-the-post system was riding a quad bike and collided with a bus. His death has left the president’s mono-majority at the critical 226-vote level.
One more vote down, and Servant of the People would have had to look for coalition partners. At least, that is what the law says. But the long-awaited intrigue didn't really happen.
On July 21, 2019, Ukraine held a snap election to the Verkhovna Rada, after which Servant of the People won 254 seats in parliament (124 elected on party lists and 130 elected by the first-past-the-post system). It was the first time in Ukraine's history that a parliamentary mono-majority was formed.
But over six years, that mono-majority has shrunk significantly - by 28 votes.
In their first year in parliament, Servant of the People expelled the late Maksym Poliakov and Anna Skorokhod, who is now a suspect in a National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) extortion case.
The third to be kicked out of the faction was Roman Ivanisov, a single-mandate MP from Rivne region, after media reports revealed he had a spent conviction on rape charges.
Next came Geo Leros. But not because of scandals of his own - rather, over his corruption allegations against Andriy Yermak himself.
They were followed by Yurii Yurchenko, as a figure in a NABU case, and Oleksandr Dubinsky, over sanctions imposed by the United States (he is currently being held in pre-trial detention in a treason case). Then, in May 2021, Servant of the People expelled Yevhenii Shevchenko, a single-mandate MP from Zaporizhzhia.
In 2021, Oleksandr Trukhin, elected in the 40th district, found himself at the centre of a scandal after he was detained over a traffic accident and an attempt to bribe police officers. He filed a resignation letter and relinquished his mandate only in 2023.
Zynovii Andriiovych, elected in the 87th district, returned to Nadvirna in 2020 after being re-elected as mayor.
In November 2021, after Razumkov was removed as speaker, the faction expelled scandal-hit Artem Dmytruk, elected in Odesa’s 133rd district, as well as Liudmyla Buimister, elected in Kyiv.
Around the same time, Roman Sokha, MP elected under the first-past-the-post system, left the Servant of the People faction, citing the appointment of Rostyslav Shurma to the Office of the President (OP) as his reason. Sokha also joined Razumkov’s group.
It was precisely the reshuffles in the parliament’s leadership that first pushed Dmytro Razumkov into non-affiliated status, followed by Ruslan Stefanchuk and Oleksandr Korniienko.
On February 1, 2022, Oleh Voronko left the faction and joined the "Restoration of Ukraine" group. Over the years, six Servant of the People MPs have also moved there, keeping the group from disappearing. In 2023, for example, Anatolii Hunko, a single-mandate Servant of the People MP accused of corruption, joined it.
In 2023, single-mandate MP Bohdan Torokhtii moved to the "For the Future" group.
In 2024, single-mandate MPs Mariiana Bezuhla and Yuliia Yatsyk, as well as Dmytro Mykysha, left the Servant of the People faction. All of them became non-affiliated.
In May 2025, Servant of the People lost another colleague: Serhii Shvets died.
On October 10, Andrii Odarchenko lost his MP mandate, the first to do so as a result of a court verdict taking legal effect. The lawmaker was a defendant in a NABU case over an attempted bribe.
And the last single-mandate lawmaker on the list of losses was Orest Salamaha, after which the faction’s numbers hit the critical threshold of 226.
Given that the opposition had been talking for a long time about a unity government, and Yuliia Tymoshenko even tried to bring down the coalition through bribery, one might have thought this was the moment for horse-trading and negotiations.
After all, if one or three single-mandate MPs were to leave the Servant of the People faction, the majority would formally cease to exist, and a new one would have to be formed within 30 days. Otherwise, the president has the right to dissolve parliament.
But in the week since Salamaha's death, there has been no coalition-related activity.
And on Monday, Glavcom published an interview with Danylo Hetmantsev, who said there was no point in expecting any new coalition.
"There is only one scenario, and you do not need to be a prophet. If the faction has fewer than 226 MPs, the coalition will end. Is that possible? Yes, there are those who want to leave. There are not as many of them as some people claim, but enough for the coalition to collapse. Will there be a new coalition? No. A coalition is only possible between factions, and Servant of the People will not join up with the Batkivshchyna, European Solidarity, or Holos factions. Is it possible to "patch" the coalition's numbers using parliamentary groups or non-affiliated MPs? It is possible, but every group is on the verge of ceasing to exist in terms of numbers, and I do not see a single reason: why would the groups need that?" the head of the tax committee said.
"And now the key question: would the collapse of the coalition trigger the political catastrophe our 'friends' are waiting for? No. The coalition would lose the ability to appoint ministers and form the government. But the government's resignation does not follow from the coalition’s collapse. It would only cement the political alignment right up until the elections. So to those among our competitors who are seeking turbulence (and there are plenty of them), I would not advise digging in that direction," Hetmantsev added.
Interestingly, his view surprised some colleagues - not so much because of the content as because of the speed. "Who is it here that's so quick off the mark?" one Servant of the People lawmaker asked when the author sent a screenshot of the interview.
"This is, of course, Hetmantsev’s personal view, but it makes sense. If previously we could not talk about teaming up with Batkivshchyna for ideological reasons, especially when it came to European legislation, it is now hard to imagine because of recent events. With Solidarity - also no. The only faction with which a merger could be acceptable is Holos. But how to do it is unclear, because there are three different groups there that are at odds with each other," another representative of the president’s faction said.
"Indeed, the only option was to shore it up with groups, and that was discussed. And we could, for instance, absorb For the Future. But it seems to me that until it drops below 226, no one will do that," the MP said.
In the opposition, reactions to Hetmantsev’s remarks varied.
"They have talked through the risks and concluded that they are not really risking much. So there will be no mono-majority, no coalition - so what? There will be no elections anyway until martial law is lifted. They will build ad hoc majorities for specific bills, as they are already doing now," a Holos lawmaker said.
Other opposition lawmakers were less restrained.
Of course, they are not going to form a coalition. The country is going straight to hell. And some scm like him has been blinded by power," another source said.
However, the faction's numbers will improve somewhat as early as next week, with the addition of party-list MPs.
In effect, adding Servant of the People MPs via the party list had been blocked for almost six months because Roman Kravets (who also runs the Joker Telegram channel) could not decide whether he wanted the mandate.
"But in fact, things have calmed down a bit. These two MPs will take their seats, and we'll be 228," a Servant of the People representative said.
When asked whether the suspicion served on Yuliia Tymoshenko had stopped attempts to bring down the majority, the MP said he basically saw no point in it.
"Bring down the coalition - why? To get government posts? Honestly, I am not sure there are any takers. The Justice Ministry is some kind of cursed story - Maslov still has not been appointed, and it has been dragged out for ages. I think the Digital Transformation Ministry will also have an acting head for a long time," the MP said.
By the way, when it comes to appointing Denys Maslov as justice minister, the problem is that he himself does not yet want to leave the committee and is trying to finish work on a number of draft laws.
"Maybe all of this has been put on ice because of the negotiations. I think that if there is clarity, then someone will leave. But that will already be part of the political campaign," the source added.
Tetiana Nikolaienko, Censor.NET
