Russian Duma: gathering force ahead of election rush
Published 15 August, 2007, 04:50
Russian Duma deputies are gearing up for the parliamentary election which will be held on December 2. Most members of the State Duma are currently on their summer break but work at the parliament building continues, as preparations for the winter vote get underway.
Compared to some European democracies, the Russian State Duma is still a youngster. Founded in 1906, it didn't survive the 1917 revolution. But it was back on track in 1993, when Russia's first President, Boris Yeltsin, introduced a new constitution.
The Duma, the lower House of the Russian Parliament, is home to 450 legislators elected for a term of four years.
Half the seats used to be filled through proportional representation and the other half through single seat constituencies. This time around all deputies will be elected from party-list proportional representation. Vladimir Putin believes it will strengthen the party system in Russia.
The key four in the Duma now are the pro-Kremlin United Russia, the Communists in the second place followed by the Liberal Democrats and the new patriotic-left Fair Russia.
When the deputies are back from their summer holidays, they'll be straight into the election cycle. Meanwhile, the parties are not wasting any time. Fair Russia, for example, is already handing out its newspaper on the streets of Moscow.
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