Press Release, 18.10.2023

Photo: The Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg / Photo by the Press Service of the Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg

The bills included in the agenda of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg by a faction must be considered at a plenary meeting. It is necessary to prohibit their exclusion from the agenda without the consent of the faction. Such changes to the rules of the city parliament were proposed by Yabloko deputies Alexander Shishlov and Boris Vishnevsky.

The Legislative Assembly did not support Yabloko’s bill at the plenary meeting on Wednesday, 18 October. Only 14 out of 48 deputies voted for it, three were against, and the rest simply avoided voting.

“This proposal is aimed at protecting the rights, interests, and positions of voters represented by the minority factions in the Legislative Assembly,” Alexander Shishlov added.

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg, the draft agenda for the meeting is formed by the Legislation Committee. At the same time, draft legal acts prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations may be additionally included in the draft agenda of the meeting of the Assembly formed by the Legislation Committee. The Chairman of the Assembly can submit one bill and factions from one to three bills, depending on the faction size.

This procedure allows all factions to submit their bills for consideration at the plenary session, regardless of the position of the Legislative Committee and commissions. This norm is especially important for factions that do not have a majority in the St.Petersburg parliament and its bodies. It is aimed to facilitate the organisation of public discussion of alternative positions, the work of parliament as a representative body which has to ensure coordination and consideration of the positions of a wide range of voters.

However, in practice, this norm turns into a decorative procedure, when the parliamentary majority at a plenary session simply excludes from the agenda the issues introduced by the parliamentary minority and that are inconvenient for the parliamentary majority.