| State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Государственная Дума Федерального Собрания Российской Федерации |
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|---|---|
| Federal Assembly of Russia | |
| Type | |
| Type | Lower House of Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation |
| Leadership | |
| Chairman of the State Duma | Sergey Naryshkin, United Russia since 21 December 2011 |
| Structure | |
| Members | 450 |
| Political groups | United Russia (238) Communist Party of the Russian Federation (92) A Just Russia (64) Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (56) |
| Elections | |
| Voting system | Party-list proportional representation |
| Last election | 4 December 2011 |
| Meeting place | |
| State Duma Building Manege Square Moscow, Russian Federation |
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| Website | |
| http://www.duma.ru | |
| Russia |
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The State Duma (Russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), common abbreviation: Госду́ма (Gosduma)) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (legislature), the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to as deputies. The State Duma replaced the Supreme Soviet as a result of the new constitution introduced by Boris Yeltsin in the aftermath of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993, and approved by the Russian public in a referendum.
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The State Duma was first introduced in 1906 and was Russia's first elected parliament. The first two attempts by Tsar Nicholas II were too radical and ineffective and were subsequently dissolved after only a few months each. After the 1907 electoral reform the third Duma, elected in November 1907, was largely made up of members of the upper classes, as radical influences in the Duma had almost entirely been removed. The establishment of the Duma after the 1905 Revolution was to herald significant changes to the Russian autocratic system. Furthermore the Duma was later to have a larger effect on Russia as it was one of the contributing factors in the February Revolution, which led to the abolition of the autocracy in Russia.
In none of the Dumas elected in 1993, 1995 and 1999 was one party able to form a majority, so the chamber was mired in factional bickering and was unable to impose order on the work of its committees. Too many bills were introduced: less than half made it to the first reading. During most of the Yeltsin era the anti-Yeltsin camp was strong enough to block government legislative initiatives, while the pro-Yeltsin camp was fractured and lacked institutional ties to the executive branch.[1] Less than half the bills passed originated as government proposals. Yeltsin vetoed twenty percent of all bills in 1996–1999, and in half the cases the veto was not overridden. The Russian public developed a strongly unfavorable image of the Duma. Meanwhile, Yeltsin continued to pursue his policies by decree–witness the privatisation auctions and Chechnya invasion in 1994. Each year 1995–2001 the Duma refused to approve the budget in advance, so the government proceeded through sequestration.
The August 1998 financial crash was a major political blow for Yeltsin, and undermined the fortunes of many of the oligarchs who were an important pillar of support for the president.[2] In the wake of the crisis Yeltsin was forced to dismiss Prime Minister Sergey Kirienko and reluctantly accepted Yevgeny Primakov as his replacement. Primakov, a former spy chief and foreign minister, was a candidate acceptable to the Communist-led Duma.[3] This was perhaps the high point of parliamentary influence during the whole post-Soviet period. In spring 1999 the Federation Council refused to accept Yeltsin’s dismissal of Procurator Yuri Skuratov, who was investigating Boris Berezovsky, a leading oligarch and backer of Yeltsin. In May 1999 Yeltsin struck back by firing Primakov, who went on to lead an anti-Yeltsin coalition of regional bosses, the Fatherland-All Russia movement.
The State Duma has special powers enumerated by the Constitution of Russia. They are:
The State Duma adopts decrees on issues referred to its authority by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Decrees of the State Duma are adopted by a majority of the total number of deputies of the State Duma, unless another procedure is envisaged by the Constitution.
All bills are first approved by the State Duma and are further debated and approved (or rejected) by the Federation Council.
| Parties and alliances | Seat composition | Popular vote | % | ± pp swing |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | ± | % | ||||||||
| United Russia | 238 | 77 | 52.88% | 32,379,135 | 49.32% | 14.98% | ||||
| Communist Party | 92 | 35 | 20.46% | 12,599,507 | 19.19% | 7.62% | ||||
| A Just Russia | 64 | 26 | 14.21% | 8,695,522 | 13.24% | 5.50% | ||||
| Liberal Democratic Party | 56 | 16 | 12.45% | 7,664,570 | 11.67% | 3.53% | ||||
| Yabloko | 0 | 0 | 0% | 2,252,403 | 3.43% | 1.84% | ||||
| Patriots of Russia | 0 | 0 | 0% | 639,119 | 0.97% | 0.08% | ||||
| Right Cause | 0 | 0 | 0% | 392,806 | 0.60% | new party | ||||
| Total | 450 | 0 | 100% | 64,623,062 | 100% | |||||
| Valid ballot papers | 64,623,062 | 98.43% | ||||||||
| Invalid ballot papers | 1,033,464 | 1.57% | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | 109,237,780 | Turnout: 60.10% | ||||||||
| Source: Summary table of election results - Central Election Commission | ||||||||||
According to the Russian Constitution, the State Duma consists of 450 deputies (Article 95), each elected to a term of four years (Article 96; beginning 2011, for five years). Russian citizens at least 21 years old are eligible to run for the Duma (Article 97). Seats are awarded on the basis of the percentage of election votes won by a party. The party then appoints candidates to fill its eligible seats.
| Faction | leader | Number of Deputies | Popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Russia | Vladimir Putin | 238 | 49.5 % |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | Gennady Zyuganov | 92 | 19.2 % |
| A Just Russia | Sergey Mironov | 64 | 13.2 % |
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | Vladimir Zhirinovsky | 56 | 11.7 % |