RUSSIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM
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The Russian political system is one of the more recent to embrace democracy but remains deeply flawed in terms of its democratic credentials and massively influenced by the power and personality of one man, Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Federation was the largest nation to emerge from the break up of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Following the constitutional crisis of 1993, Russia adopted a new constitution in a referendum of December 1993. Essentially the country is described as a federal presidential republic.
The constitution of 1993 provides strong powers for the President. The President has broad authority to issue decrees and directives that have the force of law without legislative review, although the constitution notes that they must not contravene that document or other laws. Indeed Russia's strong presidency is sometimes compared with that of Charles de Gaulle in the French Fifth Republic (1958-69).
The Law on Presidential Elections requires that the winner receive more than 50% of the votes cast. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates in term of votes must face each other in a run-off election. The President is elected by popular vote for a four-year term. He is eligible for a second term but constitutionally he is barred for a third consecutive term. The last presidential election was held in March 2004, so the next one is to be held in March 2008.
The first President of the new Russia was Boris Yelsin who was elected in June 1991. He was followed by his hand-picked successor Vladimir Putin. After a term as Acting President, he was elected for his first term in May 2000 and for a second term in March 2004. He is due to step down in March 2008 when he will almost certainly be succeeded by his nominated successor Dmitry Medvedev (currently a First Deputy Prime Minister).
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with the approval of the Duma and is first-in-line to the presidency in the case of the President's death or resignation.
Historically the role of Prime Minister has been very much subservient to that of President. However, it is widely expected that, when he ceases to be President in March 2008, Vladimir Putin will become Prime Minister creating a new dual power structure.
The lower house in the Russian Federal Assembly is the State Duma. It is the more powerful house, so all bills, even those proposed by the Federation Council, must first be considered by the Duma. However, the Duma's power to force the resignation of the Government is severely limited. It may express a vote of no confidence in the Government by a majority vote of all members of the Duma, but the President is allowed to disregard this vote.
The Duma has 450 members who are known as deputies. Formerly seats in the Duma were elected half by proportional representation (with at least 5% of the vote to qualify for seats) and half by single member districts. However, President Putin passed a decree that all seats are to be elected by proportional representation (with at least 7% of the vote to qualify for seats) and this system took effect in the election of November 2007.
Elections are held every four years. The last Duma election was held in November 2007, so the next one is to be held in December 2011.
For the 2007 election, all the deputies were elected by proportional representation and the threshold that parties had to reach in order to secure representation was raised to 7% - one of the highest thresholds in Europe - and, by doing this, Putin has eliminated independents and made it effectively impossible for small parties to be elected to the Duma. Also the registration process for candidates in the election was complicated, so that only 11 of the 85 parties that wanted to field candidates were allowed to do so. All these points have been highlighted by critics of the Russian system of politics.
The Duma is headquartered in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square.
The upper house in the Russian Federal Assembly is the Federation Council. The Council has 176 members who are known as senators. Each of the 85 federal subjects of Russia sends two members to the Council.
The federal subjects are the 21 republics, the 47 oblasts, the eight krais, the two federal cities, the six autonomous okrugs and one autonomous oblast (each category of which has different powers). One senator is elected by the provincial legislature and the other is nominated by the provincial governor and confirmed by the legislature.
As a result of the territorial nature of the upper house, terms to the Council are not nationally fixed, but instead are determined according to the regional bodies the senators represent.
The Council holds its sessions within the Main Building on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street in Moscow, the former home of the Soviet State Building Agency (Gosstroi).
The main political party is called United Russia. It was founded in April 2001 as a result of a merger between several political parties. It describes itself as centrist. It is essentially a creation of Vladimir Putin and supports him in the Duma and the Federation Council. Indeed Putin agreed to be the top name on the party's list for the recent Duma elections. In that highly flawed election, United Russia won 38% of the votes which gave them 68% of the seats (305 deputies).
The main opposition party is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation led by Gennady Zyuganov. In the recent election, it won 46 seats. The only other parties retaining seats in the Duma are the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia with 35 seats, the fake opposition party A Just Russia with 31 seats, and the nationalist People's Union with 12 seats.
Western-orientated reform parties are Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces. Other parties include the People for Democracy and Justice Party (led by former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov) and The Other Russia movement (led by fomer chess champion Gary Kasparov).
Link: The Other Russia click here
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation consists of 19 judges, one being the Chairman and another one being Deputy Chairman. Judges are appointed by the President with the consent of the Federation Council.
The Constitutional Court is a court of limited subject matter jurisdiction. The 1993 constitution empowers the Constitutional Court to arbitrate disputes between the executive and legislative branches and between Moscow and the regional and local governments. The court also is authorised to rule on violations of constitutional rights, to examine appeals from various bodies, and to participate in impeachment proceedings against the President.
While Russian democracy may not exactly be an oxymoron, it is most certainly a work in progress with Vladimir Putin remaining a massive influence on the acquisition and exercise of power. He has made it clear that, while he will step down as President at the end of his second term, he will still exercise a substantial role in Russian politics.
Observers describe the current state of the Russian political system as "managed democracy" or "sovereign democracy" or simply as "Putinism".
ROGER DARLINGTON
Last modified on 22 November 2007
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