The deputies of the Russian parliament cannot be in opposition to the authorities – this opinion was expressed by Viacheslav Volodin during a discussion with his colleagues. On October 12, the first meeting of the State Duma of the eighth convocation took place, at which he was re-elected chairman of the lower house. Before the vote, he outlined the priorities for the work of the State Duma, which is now approved by the government. In this regard, according to the speaker, the deputies bear additional responsibility. Dmitry Drize, a political observer for Kommersant FM, believes that the word “opposition” is no longer accepted in the official Russian lexicon.
The first meeting of the eighth State Duma was not rich in sensations. Everything went quite casually, in a working way. Nevertheless, there are a couple of interesting moments, not only the newly minted Just Russia Anatoly Wasserman, who came to his first plenary without his usual vest.
So! The protocol camera periodically snatched the so-called new faces (not to be confused with the parliamentary party “New People”). Yes, now there are five factions in the lower house. And, in fact, here they are, the debutants: the focused Dmitry Pevtsov – the star of the once thundering TV series “Gangster Petersburg”, the former independent mayor of Yakutsk Sardana Avksentieva, ex-children’s ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova, now the vice-speaker of United Russia, and many others …
Actually, Vyacheslav Volodin was predictably elected speaker. In his keynote speech, he formulated the priorities for the work of the lower house. First of all, he emphasized that now the people have the opportunity to establish the government. A deputy is the people, he is its main representative in power. Therefore, the elected representatives of the people must understand the extent of their responsibility. Further, Mr. Volodin pointed out that, unlike many countries (it is clear which ones), our majority has no moral right to abuse its dominant position, therefore, the voice of the parliamentary minority must sound and cannot be ignored.
Then the chairman, in accordance with the protocol, answered the questions of the deputies. It cannot be said that there was any serious acuteness here, except perhaps a question from the communist faction – in particular, whether the siloviki are exceeding their powers, they should be invited to the Duma for a conversation, and the antiquated headquarters does not work well, even the deputies are sick. And from “Fair Russia” there was a question regarding monopoly in the economy. In general, we can say that there is still a sharpness, but it is implicit. If not everyone, then many understand everything, at least it may seem so. And here Vyacheslav Volodin presented the country with a speech that claims to immortality.
Viacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma
Maybe it won’t add votes to me, but I’ll tell you anyway. When we are all elected to parliament, regardless of the party we represent, we all represent the legislative branch of the Russian Federation, the highest legislative body. It is impossible, being in power, while being in opposition to it. We must understand responsibility.
He explained that this was, of course, his opinion. Something painfully familiar is heard here. That’s right: “Parliament is not a place for discussion.” The meaning is, in fact, the same: we work and do not politicize. There are so many problems. Again, according to Volodin, our political system is moving to a new level of perfection, where there is no place for populism and demagoguery.
It may seem that the term “opposition” itself is becoming a thing of the past, even a systemic one. There is no more of this. Instead, there are “different opinions” and sensitive topics. Everything would be fine, but it’s strange that at the same time there are still problems, which, as we can see, are many – this somewhat spoils the mass. Although, of course, we are not to blame for this – the time is difficult.
Read the opinions of political observer Dmitry Drize – exclusively on the Kommersant FM Telegram channel.
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