#4 - JRL 7273
Putin seeks new parliamentary tradition not
constitutional change says official
RIA Novosti
Moscow, 30 July: Vladimir Putin's proposals for the formation of a government drawing support from the parliamentary majority do not imply a transition to a parliamentary republic, according to a senior source in the government.
He said the president's proposal was aimed at winning support for the government's policies in the State Duma.
"What is intended is to establish some kind of tradition of more active involvement of parliament in the formation of the government, along with the emergence of mutual responsibility of the parliamentary majority towards the government and of the government towards the parliamentary majority," the official said in conversation with journalists.
Under the constitution, the government is required to surrender its powers to a newly-elected Russian president. So the new State Duma, elections to which are taking place in December 2003, will, after the presidential elections of March 2004, have to confirm the new prime minister, while the latter will have the job of forming the new government.
"It is not intended that there should be a transition, in one form or another, to a parliamentary republic," the official, who asked to remain anonymous, said. "What is intended is, without changing the legislation and, God forbid, without changing the constitution, to establish the tradition of involving parliament in the formation of the government."
The proposal that the government should be formed by drawing on the support of the parliamentary majority, which was contained in the president's message to parliament in May this year, has given rise to various interpretations on the part of politicians and political analysts. There has been talk of the possibility of forming the government out of members of the party that wins the elections.
But, in the words of the informed official, what was in fact intended was that if a stable parliamentary majority emerges in the Duma of the new convocation, the newly-elected president could hold preliminary consultations with the majority regarding the candidacy of the prime minister before it was submitted for confirmation by the whole parliament, in line with the constitution.
Aside from this, according to the official, Putin was also thinking of the possibility of conducting preliminary discussions with the parliamentary majority about the policies of the future government in various fields and even "broad consultations" on specific candidates for cabinet posts to implement these policies. The president did not have in mind any changes to the procedures for submitting these candidates and having them confirmed.
Under the constitution, the candidacies of government members are tabled by the prime minister and confirmed by the president, without the involvement of parliament.
"Thus it may be possible to achieve certain comprehensive agreements on the parliamentary majority's support for government policies. This is a normal political dialogue. It could be called "trading" or "accords", but it is a normal political process," the official said.
He admitted that "political accords do not last forever, but for a certain period of time they would make it possible to achieve greater cooperation between parliament and government".
As the official noted, despite the fact that the present government's economic departments have a large number of supporters of the Union of Right Forces and the party has a real influence on the Cabinet of Ministers, the parliamentary faction of the same name very rarely supports the economic initiatives of the government in the Duma. The official said such a situation was "strange".
"The formation of the government, starting with the candidacy of premier, should be conducted in close dialogue with the parliamentary majority, which at the same time will assume certain informal obligations regarding its work with the Cabinet of Ministers," he said.
"And the government will feel a responsibility to the parliamentary majority," the official said, adding that such a procedure could become the foundation of a new political tradition.
Top • Next
Aug. 1, 2003:
#7272 • #7273 • JRL Home
- Back to the Top -