Russian State Duma and the Federation Council celebrate their 25th anniversary on Wednesday, along with the country's main law, the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) Russian State Duma and the Federation Council celebrate their 25th anniversary on Wednesday, along with the country's main law, the Constitution of the Russian Federation.The parliamentarians who participated in both the first and current convocations of the parliament told Sputnik what had been achieved and what still has remained to be changed.
Russia on Wednesday marks 25 years since the adoption of its Constitution. Russia's parliament also marks its anniversary, as elections for the first convocation of both chambers were held on December 12, 1993.
The leader of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who participated in the first parliamentary elections and was a member of the first convocation, recalled the work of the State Duma at that time as an "intense debate." He also stressed that it was quite a difficult time for the country.
"It was such a period: we have narrowly avoided a large-scale civil war in 1993, everything in the country was rapidly changing, there were many disadvantaged people and, on the other hand, a whole new class of capitalists, oligarchs has been created. The people were divided, angry. The parliament also reflected it, we had more parties, parliamentary groups and blocs were allowed. This is where the action was," Zhirinovsky said, sharing his memories.
In his opinion, this situation had its pros and cons. On the one hand, more opinions existed, and on the other hand, it was often impossible to make the necessary decision.
The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) Gennady Zyuganov also drew attention to the extremely difficult situation in the country in the 1990s. The Communist leader stressed that after the default in 1998, the parliamentarians managed to form a "people's patriotic center-left government."
"[former Prime Minister Evgeny] Primakov, [former First Deputy Prime Minister Yury] Maslyukov, [former Central Bank Governor Viktor] Gerashchenko in fact, were pulling the country back from the abyss," Zyuganov recalled.
According to Sergei Neverov, the head of the parliamentary group of the ruling United Russia party, deputies of different convocations had to do a great deal of work on the country's legislation.
"The new constitution was in a new country - the Russian Federation. Undoubtedly, over the years, new amendments were made to certain laws, because there was a law enforcement practice that could not coincide with the original purpose of adopting a legal act. As the main task which the deputy should follow is to protect the interests of citizens who have entrusted the lawmaker to represent their interests in the parliament," Neverov said.
The ideological diversity of the parties in the State Duma is still maintained, and United Russia, despite having an absolute majority in the parliament, sought to hear different points of view, take them into account and reach the most consolidated decision, the lawmaker noted.
Sergei Mironov, the leader of center-left A Just Russia party, also noted that the Russian parliament has done a tremendous work over the years. The politician noted that the legislation has been practically reinvented, covering, among other things, completely new areas of economic and public life.
Aleksander Zhukov, the State Duma's first deputy chairman, speaking at a plenary session on the eve of the anniversary, noted the deputies themselves have learned to listen and hear each other over the past quarter century.
"We have learned not just to hear and listen to each other, we have learned to team up. And to team up when it comes to fundamental issues of the country's survival, such issues as the protection of the country's sovereignty, international relations," Zhukov said.
As Russian State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has noted earlier, parliament had passed more than 7,000 laws during 25 years of work.
FEDERATION COUNCIL - CHAMBER OF REGIONS
At the same time, over the past 25 years, the procedure for the formation of the Federation Council has changed three times.
At different periods the upper chamber included governors and heads of legislative assemblies of regions, senators, who were appointed directly by the heads of the executive organs of the constituent territories, now members of the chamber are elected in the regions.
According to Federation Council member Alexander Bashkin, it is possible that the rules for the upper house formation will be changed someday again, as "nothing is perfect."
"But the current order, which is important, now takes into account the balance in the treatment of senators - they are elected, while maintaining the principle of representativeness in regional chambers, as it is stated in the constitution," the upper house lawmaker explained.
Bashkin also noted that the ban on party activities in the Federation Council allowed all 25 years of its existence to fulfill its regional role.
"The formation in the State Duma is based on party lines, and we in the Federation Council do not even know to which party our colleagues belong to, but we know from what region they come, and it tells us everything," the lawmaker said.
Veteran of the Federation Council Viktor Ozerov, who has served as a senator for the Khabarovsk Territory for 22 years, stressed that the main role, which had been determined as fundamental during the creation of parliament's upper house, was to protect the interests of the federation.
"That is why it is called the Chamber of Regions. The Federation Council represents the interests of the federation entities, not political parties and movements, and this is the key feature of its work," Ozerov told Sputnik.
The lawmaker recalled that the consideration of the interests of the territories had been expressed at different times in various perspectives: sometimes senators used to reject the federal budget because, in their opinion, it did not take into account the interests of the regions, or the Federation Council introduced its amendments to the second reading protecting the interests of the territory.
"But even now, when this does not happen, the interests of the regions play the key role when the upper chamber makes decisions. There is a ban in our regulations on the work of political movements and parliamentary groups, and this is not an accident. Senators in their work are guided by the interests of the territories, and not political parties and movements, as it is usually the case in the State Duma," the senator said.
At the same time, Ozerov stressed that the Federation Council, being the chamber of the Federal Assembly, promoted the interests of the Federal Center in making decisions, always trying to find a balance between the center and the regions.
"I believe that the Federation Council played the stabilizing role for which, among other things, it was created, a balance between the interests of the regions and the center, a balance between the parties in the Duma and the regions," the parliamentarian said.
In addition, Ozerov recalled that the Federation Council continued to seek the best ways of cooperation with the regions, including in its legislative activity.
Despite the fact that all the deputies and senators interviewed by Sputnik noted the great contribution of both chambers to the work on the country's legislation, the parliamentarians still highlighted the shortcomings that they have noticed.
"The State Duma should have more powers, for example, to participate in the formation of the government, and the Duma opposition can head the supervisory and inspection bodies - the Accounts Chamber, the Prosecutor General's Office. The State Duma factions, the deputies should become the main breeding ground for managerial skills in Russia," Zhirinovsky said.
One of the most major problems in the Russian lower house is how the ruling parliamentary groups neglect the opinion of the opposition, Mironov said and noted that his A Just Russia party regularly faces such attitude when introducing its own alternative bills.
"Therefore, we have long proposed to enshrine legislatively the rights of the Duma opposition. This will be useful for the current majority, which will be sooner or later deprived of its advantages. So, if not for us, they should take care of themselves in advance," Mironov said.
According to Zyuganov, the Duma does not fulfill its main role, which is to conduct a social and economic policy in favor of citizens according to the electoral mandate.
"The State Duma cannot remain in this format. The legislator should have the authority to control the executive branch. We have a wild slant towards the executive branch," the Communist leader said.
At the same time, the LDPR leader noted that he considered it necessary to change the building, where the lower house was located. He explained that the parliament was largely "the face of the country" and the building of the Russian chamber, in his opinion, was represented by a "concrete box," and not a memorable architectural structure.
