The State Duma of the Russian Federation is the chamber of the Federal Assembly. In Russia, it is the highest legislative body of power. The final composition of the State Duma is elected by popular vote, the term of deputy powers is 5 years.
Who is in Parliament
The powers of the deputies of the State Duma of the VII convocation came into force on September 18, 2016. On this day, national elections were held, which determined the composition of the State Duma both on party lists and in single-mandate constituencies.
Vote turnout was nearly 48 percent. To get into the federal parliament, parties had to gain 5 percent of the vote. A simple majority was enough to win in a single-member district.
The Central Electoral Commission allowed 14 political parties to participate in the elections. These are permanent participants in all elections - United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party, Just Russia, and Yabloko. Newly emerged political forces - "Civic Platform", "Civil Force", "Greens", "Patriots of Russia", "Motherland", "RussianParty of Pensioners for Justice". Political forces that have recently joined the struggle for deputy seats are the Communists of Russia, the Party of Growth, as well as the extremely oppositional PARNAS party.
According to the results of the vote count, only four parties overcame the 5% barrier. United Russia joined the State Duma with over 54 percent of the vote, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party took second and third places with a little over 13 percent each, and Just Russia took 4th place with a score of 6.22%.
The composition of the State Duma of the Russian Federation was also formed by the deputies who won in single-mandate districts. In addition to the parties that passed the 5% barrier, representatives of Rodina, Civic Platform and one self-nominated candidate were in the Duma.
Structure of Parliament
The fundamental link in the structure of the State Duma is its apparatus. Its functions include legal and organizational support for the activities of people's deputies. As well as work with documents, analytics, assessment of the informational, financial, material and technical condition, providing social and living conditions for deputies. Andrey Voikov became the first chief of staff in 1994. Now this position is held by Jahan Pollyeva. Despite the fact that a new composition of the State Duma was elected, she retained her post.
An important role belongs to the Chairman of the State Duma. He is responsible for liaising withother branches of government - judicial and executive. In the first convocation, Ivan Rybkin headed the Parliament, now this post is occupied by Vyacheslav Volodin.
The main bodies of the federal parliament that take part in the process of lawmaking are the committees of the State Duma. Their composition is formed according to the proportional principle: how many deputies from parties are in the State Duma, in the same ratio they will be represented in the committees.
All issues that are subsequently included in the agenda of the Duma meetings are initially discussed in the relevant commissions. Now the Duma has commissions on legal support, on budget and construction, and many others.
The function of planning the work of the Parliament is entrusted to the Council of the State Duma. He is also required to complete the drafting of bills by the next meeting of the lower house.
List of deputy associations
In each convocation, deputies enjoy their right to association in factions, as well as groups. At the same time, inter-factional associations and independent parliamentarians work periodically.
Exotic deputy associations existed from the first to the fourth convocation. For example, "Anti-NATO" or "Women's groups".
The current composition of the deputies of the State Duma has currently formed factions in accordance with the party affiliation of the deputies in them. The same situation developed in the Dumas of the last three convocations. Independent groups and coalitions are leavingtime in history.
Rights and obligations
The duties of the people's deputies who are members of the State Duma by parties and single-member districts are spelled out in federal law. They are divided into two groups.
The first includes those that a parliamentarian is obliged to fulfill directly in the State Duma.
These are oral appeals to members of the government, the Prosecutor General and other high-ranking officials, speeches at sessions and meetings, participation in the work of Duma committees and commissions.
In his constituency, a deputy is obliged to apply to all kinds of state bodies, organizations and enterprises on incoming citizens' appeals and seek answers. The people's choice is freely required to receive officials, and he also has the right to receive and disseminate information, if it is not particularly closed.
What are MPs not required to do?
Despite the fact that the law lists not only the rights, but also the duties of a parliamentarian, one very obvious one is not among them. It is an obligation to attend meetings of the State Duma.
The absence of this provision in the law is fraught with the fact that disciplinary measures are not applicable to the so-called absentee deputies. Unlike Russian legislation, in the practice of foreign states, the status of a deputy is spelled out in more detail, and much attention is also paid to pen alties that can be applied to a people's choice inif he fails to fulfill his direct duties.
Features of the State Duma of the VII convocation
The main feature of the State Duma of the new convocation is that for the first time in modern Russian history, one of the parties represented in parliament has a constitutional majority. That is two-thirds of the seats in parliament.
According to the results of the elections, United Russia won 343 seats out of 450 in the lower house. This means that the deputies of this party can pass any laws without the support of representatives of other political forces. After all, there are many times fewer members of other parties. There are only 42 Communists, 39 Liberal Democrats and 23 members of A Just Russia in the State Duma.
