First Elections in the Duma After the Revision of the Constitution of the Eurasian |: Russia Needs a "Strong Parliament"

The Paper's special contributor Shi Jing wang Siyu

On September 17, 2021, local time, inside a polling station on Michylin Street in Moscow. The elections for the 8th State Duma (lower house of parliament) of Russia and the elections for the heads of state of 39 local councils and 9 federal subjects were held on the same day. Visual China figure

For contemporary Russia, the unification polling day every September is an important event in the political life of the country. In contrast to the presidential elections, which are held six years apart, the unification polling day in the autumn has become a routine practice on Russia's political agenda and in people's lives. This year's unified voting day, which is scheduled, has a different meaning than in previous years, and the voting activities will elect a new Eighth State Duma (the lower house of parliament), as well as the chief executives of some state subjects, local councils and municipal elections and referendums.

The voting period for the State Duma elections was held from 17 to 19, and there are 96,000 polling points in Russia. In addition, 348 polling stations in 144 countries also serve the voting efforts of Russian citizens abroad. According to the final confirmed information, a total of 14 parties from the State Duma elections were registered, including the United Russia Party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, and the Just Russia Patriots for Truth Party. Russia's Central Election Commission said, "The campaign for the election was active and the competition among the candidates was fierce. I believe that voters have choices in terms of many parties and personal tendencies. ”[1]

On September 21, Russia's Central Election Commission announced that the United Russia Party had won a majority of seats in the elections to the State Duma (the lower house of the Russian Parliament).

How to understand Russia's "need for a strong parliament"?

The "Unified Voting Day" is established in accordance with the Amendment to the Law of the Russian Federation on Political Parties, which entered into force on November 1, 2012, and the Law on the Basic Guarantees of the Right of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Participate in the Referendum. According to the law, the day of the uniform ballot will be held in the voting of the expiring organs of state power and local self-government of the Russian Federation. According to a law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 4, 2015, which stipulates that the day of the unification of voting will be merged with the State Duma elections, the middle of September of the State Duma election year will also include more important work. [2]

This year's Unified Voting Day is still in the context of the epidemic, and the important content of the elections in the State Duma has put forward new requirements for the convening and organization of voting. In order to ensure the widespread and smooth progress of voting, in addition to the Russian officials continuing to guarantee the relevant epidemic prevention measures at polling stations, the new remote voting can be called an important effort to publicize the election of the State Duma. The areas where remote voting can be held this time include Moscow, Kursk Oblast, Murmansk Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Rostov Oblast, Yaroslavl Oblast and other places. In addition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is in self-isolation, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin, Presidential Press Secretary Paiskov, and Moscow Mayor Sobyanin all voted remotely. In addition, from the perspective of the time limit for voting, the 3-day voting time also contains the meaning of the Russian official hope to attract citizens to participate in the voting widely.

Regarding the failure of several well-known candidates to participate in this election, the official response was that I did not apply for registration. In addition, the Central Election Commission also announced the proportion of elections that were denied registration: less than 3.5% of the parties on the list of parties at the federal and regional levels were not registered, half of the 2016 elections.

According to TASS, Russia's Central Election Commission said on September 21 that the results showed that the United Russia Party won 49.82% of the votes and won about 112 seats in the lower house of parliament, ACCORDING TOS NEWS AGENCY.

Similar to the many important elections held in Russia in recent years, Putin issued an appeal to all citizens on the eve of the vote. At 00:00 on September 16, the Russian presidential website published Putin's speech to all Russian citizens. Putin said that the election of new Duma deputies is an important event in the life of the Russian state and society, and he called on all citizens to participate in the vote and implement the constitutional right of citizens to decide on the further development of the country.

Although the total length of the video speech released on the 16th did not exceed 400 words, Putin once again emphasized the importance of this election and the important role that the State Duma will play as an important organ of state power in the context of the post-constitutional revision. Summarizing Putin's short but clear statement, the implication he hopes to convey can be understood as Russia's "need for a strong parliament."

Building momentum for all types of elections, the desire to bring together a wider group of citizens to vote is a routine exercise by the authorities and the departments directly responsible. For Russia, which has held heavyweight referendums in recent years, when Putin and Russian citizens once again appeared in important pages of Russia's main media on the direct dialogue on the State Duma election, the social reaction seemed to have been relatively calm and calm. It is worth mentioning that after the referendum on constitutional amendment held in Russia in 2020, the updated Russian Constitution gives the State Duma important powers to approve candidates for prime minister, deputy prime minister and federal minister. [3] Therefore, in addition to the need to select candidates with responsibilities, positive attitudes and authoritative qualifications to enter the State Duma and ensure that they fulfill their promises by participating in legislative work, the new work content entrusted to The Duma deputies by the current Constitution requires the cooperation and support of all citizens at the front end.

Looking back at the constitutional amendments adopted in 2020, the emphasis on parliamentary power in it can be said to have attracted great attention from the outside world. From the static legal text, the expression on this subject is "the nomination of a candidate for the Prime Minister of the Federal Government, appointed by the President with the approval of the State Duma (Article 83, paragraph 1)"; "The State Duma has the right to confirm the nomination of the President for the nomination of the candidate for The Prime Minister of the Federal Government (Article 103, paragraph 1)". [4] Compared with the previous formulation of the law, the latest content does emphasize the role and responsibilities of the State Duma more prominently, which can be understood as raising the power position of the State Duma to a certain extent, but the logic of the operation of power around the presidential system has not changed. The meaning of "a strong parliament" can be interpreted as further clarifying the deployment of state power, and the Russian president can still influence all the core powers of the state.

One of the key words of 2024: the State Duma

The State Duma of the Russian Federation has a total of 450 seats, and the Constitution provides for elections on a mixed electoral system, in which all 450 deputies of the Duma are determined by the proportional distribution of the number of parties and the results of the 225 single-seat constituencies. Under current law, the threshold for party access to the Duma is 5 percent. The term of office of the deputies of the State Duma is 5 years, and the results of this election will determine the new members of this important body. As the most important election campaign before the 2024 Russian presidential elections, the new State Duma was created and began to operate, which will serve as a symbolic node to gradually reveal to the outside world the direction of Russia's national political life by 2024.

As of the evening of the 20th, preliminary results show that the United Russia Party, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, the Just Russia-Patriots for Truth and the New Party have exceeded the minimum threshold for entering the Duma, and a total of 8 candidates representing 8 parties have won in the single-seat constituency. With the announcement of the results of the vote count, it was confirmed that the United Russia Party would continue to maintain its dominant position in the new State Duma; that the Russian Communist Party performed better than the previous one, while the Situation of the Liberal Democrats was worse than before; and that another force that crossed the threshold of entry into the State Duma was the newly formed New People's Party.

Judging from the preliminary results, the performance of the dominant parties is basically in line with the polls conducted earlier; in terms of voter turnout, the official Russian data is 51.68%, which is higher than in 2016. Looking back at the three-day election, the Russian Central Election Commission concluded that there were no serious irregularities in the election, and that nearly 500,000 observers guaranteed the organization and transparency of the election activities.

The smooth running of the elections and the expected results are exactly what the parties are really happy with today's Russian state. Russia has strengthened broader political participation among citizens through the practice of several heavyweight referendums in recent years and technological alternatives in the context of the epidemic, ensuring the sustainability of political elections that are not affected by the intergenerational change of voters. In addition to the technical level, the core forces located in the center of the political arena, in addition to continuing to play the role of ballast stone, also need to formulate long-term feasible plans, so that political forces can really exert their strength on the "blade" needed by the country. In the process of Russian politics with the presidential system as the core, the State Duma needs to have the strength and confidence to deduce the content of the legal text under the new circumstances.

From the current time node to 2024, both inside and outside the bureau will have a feeling of "so close, so far". For Russia, domestic politics has attracted much attention, and specific arrangements and directions have faced many influences and even interferences from the outside world. One of the implications conveyed by the Russian authorities' judgment of the international situation in recent years and Putin's appeal to Russian citizens until recently is that the world situation is changing too much and too fast, and it is necessary to work hard for the pursuit that should be adhered to. For everyone, the concept of 2024 is the unknown and unpredictable component is greater, and what can and must be done is to stick to the controllable determination and continue to add to the future picture based on the present and the future prospect content.

(Jing Shi, Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of International and Regional Studies, Tsinghua University; Siyu Wang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Shanghai Institute of Global Governance and Regional Country Studies, Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese)

"Sissoguan Eurasia" is a collective column of the Russian-Eurasian Research Team of the Shanghai Institute of Global Governance and Regional Chinese, jointly established by the Ministry of Education, Shanghai Municipality and Shanghai Overseas Chinese University (SISU) and operated by Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese, adhering to the premise of multilingualism and multidisciplinary cross-integration as a method, providing credible and reliable local knowledge of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

exegesis

[1] Voting in the elections of deputies to the State Duma has started in Russia. http://www.cikrf.ru/news/cec/50549/

[2] Single Voting Day in Russia, https://ria.ru/20210917/golosovanie-1750133181.html

[3] Appeal to the citizens of Russia, http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66699

[4] Constitution of the Russian Federation, http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/constitution

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