United Russia Party General Council member, Russian State Duma Constitution Bills and Statesmanship Committee Chairman Vladimir Pligin
Photo: Dmitry Dukhanin
|
 |
Duma Says No to 7-Year Presidency
The Russian State Duma Committee on Constitutional Law and State Building has rejected the proposal that the presidential term in Russia be extended to seven years, RIA Novosti reports. That proposed amendment to the Russian Constitution had been introduced by Duma member from the LDPR Sergey Ivanov. During the discussion of the proposal, Ivanov explained why he was in favor of a seven-year presidential term rather than the six-year term originally being considered. “Six is not our number… Seven is a normal number. It’s a magic number.”
Ivanov also noted that elections are very expensive, and extending the length of the presidential term would save money. Committee chairman Vladimir Pligin replied to that observation that “democracy is a valuable thing. No one has thought up anything better than it.” He did not comment on the magical qualities of the numbers six or seven. The committee also rejected a proposal by Communist Duma member Viktor Ilyukhin that the Constitution be amended to limit the president to a single term, rather than the two terms not permitted.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev introduced draft amendments into the Duma on November 11 that would extend the president’s term to six years and that of the Duma to five years. The amendments would affect only the next president and parliament. The Duma approved the first reading of the amendments on Friday. The second and third readings of the amendments will be considered on November 19 and 21.
www.kommersant.com
|
|
|
