“Trust the Deeds” Recalls 11 Odesa Deputies: After the Appeal Verdict, Mandates Will Pass to Substitute Candidates

The “Trust the Deeds” party has decided to recall eleven deputies of the Odesa councils — six members of the Odesa City Council and five deputies of the Odesa Regional Council. As RBC-Ukraine reports, citing a statement by the head of the faction in the city council, Oleg Etnorovich, who also chairs the standing committee on education, sports and interaction with public organizations, once the procedures prescribed by law are completed, the mandates should pass to the next candidates in line in the party's electoral lists. The decision was made at the party's regular meeting, which took place over the past weekend.

The party's decision and the logic behind the reshuffle

According to Etnorovich, the party views the body of deputies as a single team, and if the commitments made are not fulfilled, the leadership has the legal right to refresh its composition. “The party must work as one team. If someone fails to fulfill the commitments they have made, we have the legal right to refresh the composition of the body of deputies and give the opportunity to work to those who are ready to work for the benefit of Odesa and the region,” the faction leader stated. Thus, the recall of 11 deputies is positioned not as a conflict, but as an intra-party rotation procedure aimed at preserving the faction's working capacity.

Judicial blockage and the appeal verdict of September 21

A key obstacle to the actual transfer of mandates had been the court proceedings: the recall of the deputies was appealed in the courts, which blocked the replacement procedure. According to Etnorovich's statement, on September 21 the appellate court issued a decision removing these obstacles and allowing the procedure to continue in accordance with the law. This means that once the relevant decisions take effect and the administrative steps are completed, the mandates will pass to the substitute candidates from the party's lists.

Address to the city leadership

Separately, Etnorovich addressed the secretary of the Odesa City Council, Igor Kovali, who is serving as acting mayor, emphasizing that the faction has always advocated for constructive work and had clearly explained the reasons why it could not take part in the voting at the previous session. “It is fundamentally important to us that the body of deputies works within the legal framework, and that the decisions of the city council are legally protected,” he stressed. After the legal obstacles are removed, the party is demanding that a session of the city council be convened as soon as possible, citing the accumulated issues that require decisions.

Context: the disrupted session and the land scandal

The decision to recall the deputies is being made against the backdrop of a sharp conflict over the work of the Odesa City Council. On September 9, a regular session did not take place amid a dispute over deputy Vasyl Ieremia; representatives of the veterans' community and the “Trust the Deeds” party had pointed to problems with the organization of the city council's work and the blocking of decisions important for the city. Meanwhile, a land scandal erupted in Odesa over a green zone, where, according to local residents, trees began to be felled for private tennis courts, further increasing public pressure on the body of deputies.

Contradictory data

The available sources record a difference in emphasis regarding the current status of the procedure. On the one hand, RBC-Ukraine and Etnorovich's statement stress that the appellate court on September 21 removed the obstacles and the mandate replacement procedure can be completed. On the other hand, a dumskaya.net publication describes the situation as “on pause,” noting that the recall of the Odesa deputies had been blocked through the courts. In essence, these are not mutually exclusive versions, but a chronology: first the courts blocked the replacement, and then the appellate decision of September 21 lifted that blockage. Nevertheless, as of the time of publication, the actual transfer of mandates to the substitute candidates has not yet taken place and depends on the completion of the legal procedures, so the status of the mandates should be considered not “lost” but “in the process of recall”.