Press Release, 28.02.2020

The Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies have considered four bills on amendments to the Constitution of Russia. Parliamentary representatives from the Yabloko faction Lev Shlosberg and Arthur Gaiduk made a proposal to the Regional Assembly to put forward such legislative initiatives to the State Duma of Russia. The voted of the Regional Assembly resulted in rejecting all four legislative initiatives.

Draft laws on constitutional amendments representing an alternative to Vladimir Putin’s amendments to the Russian Constitution were simultaneously submitted by deputies from Yabloko in five legislative assemblies of the Russian Federation: St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Republic of Karelia, the Pskov and Astrakhan regions.

The draft laws were prepared on the basis of the proposals of a group of leading Russian lawyers in the field of constitutional law and are combined into separate laws for each legal block: the President (“On the Term of Office, Range of Powers and the Procedure for the Election of the President of the Russian Federation”), the Federal Assembly (“On Terms of Office , Range of Powers and the Procedure for the Election of the Chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation ”), the government (“On the Procedure for Forming the Russian Government ”), and the judiciary (“On the Judiciary in the Russian Federation”).

“The general task of the amendments is to restore the distorted balance of powers in the Russian Federation, make amendments and additions to the Constitution that will limit the presidential power, strengthen the power of the parliament, put the Government and the executive branch in general under the control of parliament and society, and make the judiciary truly independent,” Lev Schlossberg said presenting the bills.

The initiative of deputies from Yabloko on the reform of the presidential power was supported by four deputies (with five abstentions and 18 against), on the reform of parliament – five deputies (with three abstentions and 25 against), on the reform of the government – five deputies (with two abstentions and 22 against ) and on the reform of the judiciary – 11 deputies (with one abstaining and 23 against) from all five factions represented in the Assembly: Yabloko, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Communist Party, the Just Russia and United Russia. In total, there are 44 deputies in the Assembly, but a significant part of the deputies did not participate in the vote. The Yabloko’s parliamentarians were not asked a single question on the draft constitutional amendments.

At the same time, the law on the reform of the judicial system received the largest support from the deputies of the Assembly.

Previously, up to a third of the deputies of the Astrakhan Regional Duma supported the amendments of Yabloko to the Constitution or did not vote against them.