A hall of Russia's lower house, the State Duma
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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State Duma Voted for President’s Term Extension
The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, has passed in the second reading the bill that will amend the RF Constitution to extend the president’s and the State Duma’s terms, Interfax reported. As many as 351 parliament members upheld the bill and 57 voted against it.
Under the amendments to the Constitution that President Dmitry Medvedev submitted to the State Duma, the president’s term will extend from four to six years, while the term of State Duma will equal five years instead of today’s four years.
If passed, the amendments will take effect for the next president and the State Duma.
The State Duma has also passed in the second reading the bill that will amend the Constitution in part of parliament’s control over the federal government. Under the amendments, the government will annually report to lawmakers about its activities.
The third reading of the bill is slated for November 21. Once the bill is through the State Duma and wins support of the Federation Council, it will require approval of at least two thirds of Federal Assemblies of the RF constituents.
Of interest is that the LDPR faction of the State Duma ignored voting. The faction’s leader and the State Duma Vice Speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said the faction protested against the State Duma’s refusal to hear its amendments.
Amid other things, the LDPR amendments suggested extending the president’s term to seven years and replacing “the president” by the “supreme ruler” word-combination in the RF Constitution.
www.kommersant.com
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