MP Bezuhla resigns from Zelensky's party

Mariana Bezuhla, a member of Ukraine's parliament, announced on Jan. 11 that she had written a letter of resignation from the Servant of the People party led by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Bezuhla stirred controversy in November when she called for the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces. Her comments led other Servant of the People lawmakers to demand her expulsion from the party.

"I don't need a weak faction and party in a time of war," Bezuhla said in a Facebook post announcing her letter of resignation.

"I will continue to support the President's initiatives, but I don't want to have any common obligations with the MPs of the faction who stab me in the back."

The legislature's Committee on Rules of Procedure supported a resolution to dismiss Bezuhla from her position as deputy head of the National Security and Defense Committee on Jan. 8.

Lawmakers were meant to consider Bezuhla's dismissal from her committee post on Jan. 10, but the vote was reportedly blocked.

Bezuhla said she continues to "support the president" and is willing to work "with everyone in the parliament, regardless of factional affiliation, with every citizen, regardless of political preferences of the past and future."

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The Kyiv IndependentAlexander Khrebet