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Mike Solovyanov / MT
Seleznyov speaking to reporters Tuesday
as Deputy Speaker Artur Chilingarov tells him it is time to attend
the first day's session. |
The State Duma on Tuesday reconvened after a summer break with heaps of
work and a busy schedule ahead -- and decided to tackle the task by canceling
the next day's session.
With 75 crucial bills and about 500 in all to review in the next three
months, deputies could not find enough work to fill Wednesday's agenda.
So they decided to adjourn.
"Sometimes deputies are like bad students: They do everything the
day before the exam," Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov said. "But
the important thing is that we manage to do everything we plan."
The president's Duma representative, Alexander Kotenkov, tried to excuse
the lawmakers. "The deputies haven't gained momentum yet," he
said. "Besides, the bills that had been lying around all summer turned
out to be unprepared for review."
He did not elaborate.
Just about every deputy resorted to the phrase "lack of momentum"
on Tuesday. After all, they had been resting up since late June. "The
summer has unfortunately affected the work of the [Duma] committees, and
they are still gaining momentum," said Oleg Morozov, leader of Russia's
Regions. "This is a typical period for gaining momentum."
But deputies promised to do better in a week or two. "If you think
that the cancellation of tomorrow's session means that we are going to
work slowly, you will be disappointed," Farida Gainullina of Fatherland-All
Russia said. "We have a very intense session ahead of us."
Few doubt that the deputies will be busy. This session is the last before
the Dec. 7 parliamentary elections, and legislators have agreed to split
their time between passing laws and trips to the regions to meet with
voters.
The approach of elections has prompted concern that deputies will add
scores of populist bills to the 500 already in the offing.
"So far we haven't discovered any populist bills, but I have no
doubt that they will appear," Seleznyov said.
Yabloko Deputy Sergei
Ivanenko pointed out recently that the Duma approved 50 bills to curry
voter favor "on its last day of work" before 1995 elections.
The bills later were rejected by the Federation Council or the president.
On Tuesday, the Duma had more than a dozen bills on the agenda, including
amendments to the laws on bankruptcy and mortgages. Deputies rejected
a bill to lower the minimum age for joining a political party from 18
to 16.
See also:
the original at
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