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The State Duma passed the Land Code in an emotionally charged
first reading Friday that saw lawmakers chant, come to blows and
whole factions march out en masse. The Duma voted 251-22 with
three abstentions in favor of the Kremlin-backed code, which would
allow the sale of commercial land and plots in cities and villages
to Russians and foreigners. The sale of agricultural land is not
provided for in the code and will be dealt with in a separate
law. The legislation must pass two more readings in the Duma and
then be approved by the Federation Council before it can be sent
to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law.
Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref, whose ministry
drafted the legislation, said the code would allow the sale of
2 percent of the country's land. "This draft is the basis
for investment activities in Russia," Gref said before the
vote was held. "It gives citizens the rights to use their
property."
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said last week that 98
percent of the country's land could be sold off under the legislation,
and his party and its supporters put up a fierce fight to prevent
the Duma from passing the Land Code.
Lawmakers were greeted at the Duma on Friday by about 500 protesters
blocking the street and carrying posters slamming the legislation
as an attempt to sell off the "Fatherland."
After some debate, the Duma agreed to consider the version of
the Land Code drafted by the government and another more radical
version drawn up by the Union of Right Forces. The SPS version,
which allowed the sale of farmland, was nixed.
Communist and Agrarian lawmakers, chanting "Shame, shame,
shame," flocked around the podium to prevent Gref from taking
the floor to discuss the Land Code. Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov
was eventually forced to call for a timeout. Later, as a result
of the heightened tension throughout the day, Seleznyov was hospitalized
in the Central Clinic Hospital with high blood pressure.
The Communists and Agrarians were invited to meet with Gref in
a separate hall, but they refused and stayed in the main hall
singing a rousing World War II favorite. "Stand up, enormous
country, stand up and fight to the death with the fascist dark
forces, with the cursed hordes," they sang.
During the break, Viktor Anpilov, head of the ultranationalist
Working Russia movement, said in an interview: "I haven't
read this draft, but it is bad. The worst is that the land will
be sold to foreigners and that the regions will be allowed too
much independence in dealing with land."
A main objection put forward by opponents was that the regions
have not had enough time to comment on the draft Land Code. Zyuganov
said that only 21 regions had responded by Friday morning and
called for the hearing to be postponed for public discussion.
"Why can't you wait for a week or two?" said Khapisat
Gamzatova, a Communist deputy from Dagestan. She said 92 percent
of the people in her region recently voted against land sales
in a referendum.
However, liberal factions said that too many years have already
been lost in idle discussions and that reforms cannot wait any
longer.
"Let's just stop making political statements. Let's discuss
the legislation and make amendments," said Vyacheslav Volodin
of the Fatherland-All Russia faction. "Regions will have
enough time — a month before the second reading — to give their
amendments."
Some deputies accused the Communists of trying to manipulate
people who are poorly informed.
"We have confused people [about land legislation] to such
an extent that even the most educated person does not know what
his rights to land are," said Gennady Kulik, a deputy with
Fatherland and former deputy prime minister in charge of agriculture.
"I understand the desire of certain forces to score points
from everybody, including from poorly informed people. The leftist
forces are claiming that 98 percent of the land could be sold
under this draft," he said.
Kulik, citing a recent government report, said Russia has 1.63
billion hectares of land but the code only covers the 18.6 million
hectares in cities, towns and villages and 17.4 million hectares
of industrial land.
A number of deputies said that Communists are supporting a land
mafia in the shadow land market. "We have seen how strong
the positions of the land mafia are in the country," said
Sergei Mitrokhin of the Yabloko party. "The mafia does not
want to give land to peasants — it only wants to keep on robbing
and exploiting the land."
SPS leader Boris Nemtsov said later that land is being sold in
Moscow suburbs for $4,000 to $15,000 per 100 square meters but
the city is earning pennies in land taxes.
"We clearly understand that in the absence of real land
ownership, the country has
black market for land and those who are using the shortcomings
of our legislation are thriving on it," Nemtsov said.
Seeing that Gref was preparing to make his presentation, Zyuganov
asked that the speech be delayed by 30 minutes so that he could
talk with Putin, who was boarding a plane to fly from China to
Slovenia.
But Seleznyov, saying he had just spoken to the president, refused
to wait. He told Gref to present the draft.
However, the opposition, which was blocking the podium, also
cut off access to the government box. Gref, sheltered by the shoulders
of deputies from pro-government factions, gamely spoke from a
microphone in the hall while the chanting Communists and Agrarians
tried to drown out his words.
"Today, 25 percent of all land in cities is already in private
ownership and not passing this legislation would mean confiscation
of those land plots," Gref said.
"In accordance with an agreement between the Communist and
the Agrarian factions and the president, all controversial parts
that concern the turnover of agricultural land have been taken
out of this draft," he said.
Gref added that the government is ready to "take into consideration
all amendments concerning the ownership of land by foreigners,
especially of agricultural land."
After his speech, tension remained high. Communist deputy and
actress Yelena Drapeko shouted "Shame, shame" into the
ear and microphone of Duma property committee head Viktor Pleskachevsky
when he started a report supporting the government's draft.
During the speech, deputy and pharmaceutical tycoon Vladimir
Bryntsalov head-butted and kicked hard-line Communist Georgy Tikhonov,
one of the people orchestrating the Duma protest. Liberal Democratic
Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, well-known for his own emotional
outbursts, offered only a joke that the protests were not really
that noisy because "no one was shooting."
Shortly after Gref's and Pleskachevsky's speeches, Zyuganov announced
that the Communists would not participate in "this farce"
and the Communists and Agrarians left the hall.
By that point it was clear that the draft would be passed no
matter what the opposition said — at least 230 deputies supported
it, more than the 226 required to pass it.
In the silence that settled over the hall after opposition left,
the remaining lawmakers pledged to support the draft but insisted
that significant amendments be made, including on the participation
of foreigners in purchasing land.
Another serious objection was that the draft was too much of
a framework law and left too much to be regulated by regional
laws.
Amendments to the Land Code will be accepted over the next three
weeks, and the second hearing — which may be immediately followed
by a third hearing — is scheduled to take place in four weeks.
See the original at www.themoscowtimes.com
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