The State Duma clarifies the procedure for the early termination of deputy powers
A group of parliamentarians proposed optimizing the procedure for early deprivation of deputies of their powers. The corresponding bill was submitted to the Duma on March 28. The opinions of experts about this innovation were divided: one of them believes that the new norm significantly strengthens the powers of the Council of the Lower Chamber in personnel issues, and the other is convinced that the amendments are technical in nature and only correct the gap in the law, the presence of which, however, did not prevent mandates for the absenteeism of two opposition deputies.
The bill was introduced by members of the Duma Commission on the Regulation, led by its chairman Viktor Pinsky (United Russia, EP) and several senators, including the Secretary of the General Council of the EP, the first vice-speaker of the Federation Council Vladimir Yakushev. As stated in an explanatory note, “to activate the work of deputies with voters”, it is proposed to oblige parliamentarians to hold meetings with citizens at least once a month (now every six months). This idea belongs to the speaker of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, gives the words of Mr. Pinsky Telegram channel EP: “I consider this absolutely true and fair. In order to quickly respond to citizens’ proposals, to be closer, to know about problems, to prepare solutions faster, to meet them more often. ” Recall that the routine of the Duma is compiled in such a way that for every three or four plenary weeks it takes a week of work in the electoral districts.
In addition, it is proposed to foresee that the grounds for early deprivation of the deputy mandate are established by the « body formed in accordance with the State Duma Regulations. » As stated in the explanatory note, the amendments are developed « in order to optimize the procedure for considering issues of early termination of powers of the deputy of the Duma. »
According to the Higher School teacher, a member of the Raso Political Technology Committee Pavel Sklyanchuk, the amendments significantly strengthen the powers of the Council of the Duma, which, along with fractions and committees, has the right to initiate an early deprivation of the mandate of the deputy for failure to fulfill his duties within 30 or more days.
“This is a closed body, which includes members of the Presidium of the Chamber and the leaders of the fractions with the right of a decisive vote, as well as the chairmen of committees with the right of an advisory vote and through which the expert recalls the expert.“ Most likely, the initiative was the result of an unsuccessful attempt to deprive Yuri Napso. At the same time, his case could be chosen specifically to justify the introduction of a new norm of the law, which significantly narrows the constitutional status of the deputy mandate. ”
Recall that at the end of February the Council of the Duma instructed the commissions on deputy ethics to study the issue of the presence of grounds for early termination of powers of the first deputy chairman of the Committee on State Planning and Legislation of Yuri Napso (LDPR). The reason for this was his long absence at meetings (in total, the deputy did not appear in the Duma for about two years, including more than 200 days – without a good reason, follows from the message on the Duma site). Mr. Napso himself said that he was undergoing long -term treatment abroad, but continues to perform his duties and, in particular, conducts citizens’ receptions in video communication (he later published a report on one of these techniques). Meetings of the Ethics Commission on the NAPSO case have been repeatedly postponed. According to the Kommersant source in the Duma, the State Building Committee did not record at his meetings, and Mr. Napso presented medical certificates in the absence of the absence of “plenarks”.
The electoral lawyer Oleg Zakharov, on the contrary, is sure that the amendments, “despite the formidable text,” are purely technical.
“The fact is that when a mandate related to the assembly of the committee’s meetings was introduced into the law on the status, this clause (part 3.1 of article 4) forgot to include the norm in the“ procedural ”norm, which indicates the terms and procedure for issuing a decision of the Duma on the termination of authority,” the expert explains. “True, this did not prevent the Supreme Court from recognizing the deprivation of the Two Deputies to be legitimate. (In the fall of 2023, the Duma for absenteeism terminated the powers of Vasily Vlasov from the LDPR and Vadim Belousov from « Fair Russia – for the Truth ». – « Kommersant »), but they decided to fix the inconsistency. Now, as on other grounds, the deadline for making a decision is clearly defined – 30 days, and its form is the decision of the Duma. ”
At the same time, neither new authorities for depriving deputies of powers, nor new grounds for this will not appear in the law, adds Mr. Zakharov. As now, the presence of a reason for depriving the mandate will be established first by the relevant committee, and then – commissions on ethics and mandatory issues. And within 30 days from the moment they establish the deputy in the absenteeism, the Duma must adopt a decision on the termination of powers. “The topic became hot due to talk about the possible deprivation of the mandate of the deputy NAPSO. But exactly the same procedure awaits him as Vlasova with Belousov, and its outcome is likely to be the same, ”summarizes Oleg Zakharov.
