The newly elected Ukrainian parliament will hold its first ceremonial session on Aug. 29, said Dmytro Razumkov, leader of the Servant of the People party, on Aug. 9.
Razumkov has just taken part in the parliament’s preparatory meeting, tasked with scheduling the parliament’s inauguration date, when he revealed when the Rada would return to work.
Ukrainian snap parliamentary elections took place on July 21. According to the official results published on Aug. 7, the Servant of the People party, created by President Volodymyr Zelensky, won an overwhelming majority, receiving 254 seats out of the 450 in total.
Zelensky himself was elected on April 21, receiving over 73 percent of the total vote.
“The ceremonial (parliament) meeting will be held on Aug. 29,” said Razumkov, concluding the preparatory meeting, which consisted of representatives from all elected parties.
According to the Ukrainian constitution, the first parliamentary session is opened by the oldest elected lawmaker, this time being Yuli Yoffe, 78, from the pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party, who’ll first read the parliament oath.
After Yoffe, lawmakers will take the oath by signing into the parliament’s registration book.
Lawmakers will then be tasked with electing the parliament’s chair along with the chair’s deputies.
Razumkov himself, is most likely to chair the parliament, with David Arakhamia, elected No. 6 on Servant of the People’s party list saying, on Aug. 6, that Razumkov is an “uncontested candidate” for the job.
On the same day, Razumkov promised that one of the positions of deputy speaker will be given to an opposition lawmaker.
