Consensus is coming to us – Kommersant

In the past year, the Duma set a record for the number of deputies who signed up for one initiative. The bill to suspend the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was officially introduced by the largest number of authors in the entire history of Russian parliamentarism – 438. Against the backdrop of the global crisis, deputies began to neglect the party position for the sake of unity among the ranks, but they still do not always do this.

The Duma adopted the first mass initiative back in 2012 – it was the notorious “Dima Yakovlev law”, which prohibited Americans from adopting Russian orphans. After that, this was not practiced for ten years, and in 2023, initiatives, the number of authors of which fluctuates around 400, became a fashionable trend in the chamber. Then the deputies “as a whole” introduced bills on life sentences for saboteurs, on the ban on LGBT propaganda and on the possibility of transferring municipal schools to the control of regional authorities. This year the trend continued: bills to tighten vaping regulations and about ban on gender reassignment. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin each time praised his colleagues from different factions for ideological unity against the backdrop of foreign policy instability.

The Duma demonstrates consolidation in everything related to supporting the special operation, helping its participants and their families, condemning the “Western partners” – this is not even discussed. There are no discussions on internal operational or personnel issues. Right now, for example, it’s launched transplantation process deputies from foreign cars to domestic cars. Nobody objects. After all, the idea is truly beautiful (although not new): to demonstrate patriotism by your own example, to start, as they say, with yourself.

Although on the sidelines, people’s representatives shake their heads skeptically: they say, it will be difficult to replace unfriendly foreign cars – our automobile industry has no analogues in terms of price and quality ratio in some segments.

The Duma also showed a fairly solid position when considering the issue of deprivation of powers two deputies. Vasily Vlasov, according to him, turned out to be disliked by the new leadership of the LDPR, and the Socialist Revolutionary Vadim Belousov was sentenced to ten years in prison for taking a bribe and is on the federal wanted list. However, formally they were “expelled” for absenteeism. The Communists and Socialist Revolutionaries abstained from voting for the deprivation of powers, but they did not stand up for the exiles. Everyone remained silent, although Vasily Vlasov assures that they promised to speak. Thus, the Duma consolidatedly rejected the “toxic elements” that did not get along with the authorities and cast a shadow on its reputation.

But there are still topics that are not subject to the influence of fashion on consensus. The Communists and Socialist Revolutionaries, for example, do not want to give up the practice of preparing alternative budget projects and voting against a government document. In vain did Speaker Volodin and Chairman of the Duma Budget Committee Andrei Makarov call for a demonstration of unity in this case as well. The leader of the LDPR, Leonid Slutsky, also helped him, appealing to the troublemakers to patriotism: they say, no one abroad should even think about a split in the Russian elite when considering such an important issue. As a result, three factions voted for the draft three-year budget, two – against, repeating the alignment of 2022.

An even more convincing “split” occurred during the vote for the bill on punishment for justification of extremism, which the Telegram channel “State Duma Expert” called “one of the lowest quorum.”

The document was approved in September only in the first reading and received only 278 votes, not finding support not only among all opposition factions, but even among some United Russia members. In the eighth convocation, only bills on the creation of a unified biometrics system and on an outdoor advertising operator received fewer votes. Both of these documents were considered at the end of 2022, and the second of them was adopted in the first reading and then rejected.

Anti-extremist amendments to the Criminal Code were prepared by a group of United Russia members. The authors proposed expanding Art. 280 of the Criminal Code, which provides for punishment for “public calls for extremist activities”, adding “public justification of extremism” and “propaganda of extremism” to this composition. Punishment under this article ranges from a fine of 100–300 thousand rubles. to imprisonment for a term of up to five years. Communists, speaking in the Duma, insisted that the amendments were of a political nature and would make it possible to deal with undesirables, and the singing of the “Internationale” and approval of the Decembrist uprising could be the reason for persecution. By the way, the government also made comments on the bill on the justification of extremism, fearing competition between norms. Yes, and the relevant committee on legislation recommended it was accepted with difficulty and the advice was to correct it for the second reading. But for now the amendments remain in the committee without movement. Although, it would seem, the fight against extremism is the very topic where deputies are expected to take a consolidated position. But, apparently, there are milestones that they are not yet ready to pass. Therefore, it will not be said under Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin that consensus in the Duma is a conditional thing even in our difficult times.