Dysfunction Sidelines Ukraine’s Parliament as Governing Force

Ukraine’s Parliament is in a state of disarray.

Under martial law, with the country at war, no elections are possible to replace members who switched jobs, joined the army, fled the country or quit. The Parliament regularly gathers with more than 10 percent of its lawmakers absent.

Though legally obliged to attend hearings when summoned, ministers sometimes do not show up, without repercussions.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, once a political juggernaut, has in effect lost its majority by unraveling into factions. To pass key bills, it is forced to rely on support from lawmakers who belonged to a now-banned pro-Russian party.

The overall picture, said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Ukrainian political analyst, is of a Parliament sidelined during the war and slipping from its once powerful role in Ukrainian democracy.

“In a state of martial law, with our centralization of state management and the end of public politics, Parliament lost its influence,” Mr. Fesenko said.

The dysfunction in Parliament, and the unusual voting alliance between the governing party and former members of the disbanded pro-Russian party, has dented the government’s credibility as it struggles to reset its war effort after months of Russian advances.