The reputational damage to Zelensky turned out to be irreversible: the parliamentary scandal over the NABU and SAPO law erased the boundaries of public trust

The events that unfolded in the Ukrainian parliament at the end of July dealt President Volodymyr Zelensky a serious reputational blow — one that, according to political analysts, will be impossible to repair.

This was reported by the British outlet The Spectator.

On July 31, the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada turned into a kind of stage, as MPs took to the podium one after another, publicly condemning a bill that, just a week earlier, they had unanimously supported by pressing the “green button.”Political observers have already labeled this display as a “parade of hypocrisy,” and it was obvious to the whole country.

The split within Zelensky’s own Servant of the People faction was particularly noticeable. Deputies who until recently had unconditionally backed the president’s initiatives are now increasingly stating their intention to act independently rather than take instructions from the Office of the President.

Parliamentary sources say that some members of Servant of the People are quietly growing resentful of the constant pressure from the president’s office, and the episode surrounding the most recent vote became a breaking point for them.

Experts note that this kind of ostentatious “change of position” by MPs is not an attempt to defend the interests of voters, but rather a way to save their own reputations amid a rapidly declining level of trust in the government.

Meanwhile, voters are losing faith both in the sincerity of their elected representatives and in the president’s ability to maintain control over his own team.

The political farce that unfolded after the vote has laid bare a crisis of political responsibility in Ukraine. Clips of the parliamentary debates — filled with mutual accusations and attempts at self-justification — have spread across social media, eliciting not outrage but bitter laughter. Public sentiment is growing louder: people no longer want to see such MPs representing them, and trust in the president can no longer be restored.