| Defying the Kremlin's stance, and the government's strong
disapproval, State Duma deputies have passed a draft law on parliamentary
inquiries. The draft enables lawmakers to carry out their own investigation
into any kind of crime or wrongdoing by highly-placed state officials and
also to probe the legality of using armed forces inside and outside the
country. In line with the draft, only the head of state may refrain from
testifying before parliament.
The authors of the draft, approved by the lower house in the first reading
this week, call for the establishment of special investigative commissions,
under the control of the Russian parliament, that would probe cases of
grave violations of human rights during a state of emergency, grave violations
of the Constitution during elections to the federal and regional executive
authorities. Parliament will also probe the activities of judges of the
Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Higher Arbitration Court,
the Prosecutor General and the chairman of the Central Election Commission
that are incompatible with their official status. The commission will
also be able to launch inquiries into territorial disputes between regions
of the Russian Federation, and probe the legality of using armed forces
inside and outside the country.
"Society today feels helpless when confronted with power, that
power goes unpunished. That is why the national anti-corruption committee
has entrusted me with the task to submit the draft," said State Duma
deputy Nikolai Gonchar who presented the draft law to the lower house
before its first reading on Tuesday.
"According to Gonchar, the current legislation stipulates no punishment
for state officials who refuse to provide parliamentarians with information,
ignore State Duma sessions or give false evidence.
"Gonchar assured his colleagues that the parliamentary investigation
commission would not duplicate the functions of the courts or the police.
Their role will be "to take power away from people who abuse it."
"However, the Duma Committee for State Construction refused to
support the draft law, saying it ran counter to Article 103 of the Constitution
(outlining the jurisdiction of the lower house). The committee's speaker,
Nikolai Shaklein, recalled that a draft on amending the Constitution,
to authorize the lawmakers to carry out such inquiries, had been passed
in the first reading by the Duma during the previous assembly, but then
the document had been put on hold and eventually lost in the archives.
"Parliamentary inquiries are an important function of parliament:
as long as the Constitution does not allow us to undertake such enquiries,
we cannot pass the law. Parliamentary commissions will, in fact, duplicate
investigative agencies," Shaklein protested.
"However, the liberal Yabloko, and Union of Right-Wing Forces factions
actively backed the draft law. "It is clear that the only way to
investigate the conduct of state officials in such situations as the Kursk
submarine accident or the hostage-taking in the Nord-Ost musical theatre,
is to carry out parliamentary inquiries," SPS deputy Boris Nadezhdin
said. "Russia, indeed, remains the only country, where parliament
has no such powers."
"Siding with the authors of the draft, deputy Boris Reznik of the
Regions of Russia group, recalled that the lower house's committee for
combatting corruption has so far failed to call to account certain state
officials involved in corruption. Reznik recalled that although the commission
had on many occasions disclosed corruption in the government involving
high-placed federal ministers (Adamov, Aksyonenko and Artyukhov), the
deputies' conclusions remained unheeded by the Kremlin and the government.
"Eventually, in defiance of the objections from the Kremlin and
the government, the lower house approved the draft law in its first reading.
The law received the support of the People's Deputy Group, Yabloko, SPS
and the Communists.
"Members of the pro-Kremlin Unity and Fatherland All Russia factions
were so convinced that the law would not make it through the first reading
that many of them did not bother to attend the Tuesday session.
"The presidential envoy to the lower house Alexander Kotenkov did
not conceal his disappointment as he gazed at the voting results on the
scoreboard. He clearly had not expected such an outcome, apparently hoping
that the Kremlin-controlled factions would block the passage of the law,
just as they had done in late 2002, when liberal factions called for the
establishment of an ad hoc committee to investigate the circumstances
surrounding the Nord-Ost theatre raid in Dubrovka.
It appears highly unlikely that the draft will ever make it through
the second and final third readings. The pro-Kremlin factions have a strong
influence in the lower house, and the December elections are expected
to further strengthen their positions. If the United Russia mega-bloc,
as planned, wins the majority of seats in the house, the draft law on
parliamentary inquiries will most likely be put on hold for another four
years.
See also:
Human Rights
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