Duma makeover – fresh polish for better policies?

Although the next Russian parliament has still to be elected, massive funds have already been invested in the new deputies’ well-being.

It was decided that the next parliament should usher in not just new faces, but also a fresh workplace for them to get law-making in.

The State Duma building is getting a major makeover with a whopping $400,000 to be spent on leather seating, wardrobes and crystal glasses.

The newly-elected deputies will also get nearly $100,000 worth of cutting-edge computer equipment, to say nothing of a revamped Assembly Hall and voting system.

The upgrades will hopefully encourage deputies to attend Duma sessions more eagerly than before – absenteeism has been the current convocation’s weak point. In April 2011, President Medvedev severely reprimanded the deputies for the rows of empty seats he saw in the parliament.

“I am very surprised to see only 10 to 15 per cent of our elected officials present during sessions,” the president said. “If the deputies like to go walkabout, we should find them a new place to go walkabout from.”

Meanwhile, the final session of the current parliament was spent summing up the convocation’s achievements rather than outlining flaws.

For more, watch RT’s report: