(Reuters) – A senior Ukrainian presidential aide said on Friday he was confident that an amended bill seeking to tighten Ukraine’s mobilisation laws would be passed in the coming days or weeks, despite hitting setbacks this week.
Thousands of Ukrainians rush to enlist immediately after Russia invaded in February 2022, but nearly two years into the war, some men are trying to avoid the fight.
The bill, amended after lawmakers and analysts said some of its provisions violated the constitution and carried corruption risks, proposes making some categories of previously exempt men eligible for mobilisation. It also aims to introduce new ways to crack down on draft-dodgers.
It was expected to face its first vote in parliament this week but failed to clear the relevant committees.
But presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Ukrainian national television he was still confident the bill would pass.
“I think that in several days, maximum weeks, the law will be voted through in the first and second reading,” he said.
Podolyak accused some lawmakers of “playing politics” at a time of war and said they did not want to take unpopular decisions about mobilisation.
“Lawmakers want to get a law which people will like, but this is impossible.”
Some opposition lawmakers, while accepting the need for mobilisation, had criticised certain parts of the bill as unconstitutional and sought to introduce amendments to remove them.
Podolyak conceded that some amendments to the bill would need to be made, and the positions of various parliamentary committees factored in.
(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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