The ruling Servant of the People faction in Ukraine’s Parliament is facing a “major crisis” as 17 members have submitted resignation letters, the LB.ua news outlet reported on Jan. 26, citing the faction’s leader David Arakhamia.

“This means that we already have 401 people in parliament, and we will definitely let one more go for medical reasons, which will make 400 people,” he said, noting the challenge of gathering the minimum 226 votes needed to pass decisions in parliament.

Other factions and parties also have members who want to leave.

Read also: Three MPs leave Ukrainian parliament

“We have decided for ourselves that we will not vote for the resignation of MPs unless there is a medical situation, but otherwise there are no more conditions under which we will vote for the resignation of MPs,” he said.

“This is in order to maintain the legitimacy of the parliament.”

Read also: Ruling party leader floats mandatory military training for all MPs and state officials

By law, the Verkhovna Rada should have 450 deputies but there were earlier proposals to reduce the minimum number of groups and factions during martial law.

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