Representatives of three non-parliamentary parties will be invited to the meeting of the State Duma

The Duma Council decided for the first time since 2019 to invite non-parliamentary parties to the plenary session – at the suggestion of the control committee, they will be able to attend the government hour on December 7 with the Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev. In accordance with Art. 26.2 of the Law “On Political Parties”, parties not represented in the State Duma have the right to participate in the plenary session at least once a year. By data Ministry of Justice at the end of November, 30 political parties were registered in Russia, 25 of them are not represented in the federal parliament. In 2019, party representatives were invited to the first reading of the draft law on the protection and promotion of investment and the development of investment activity in Russia.

The first deputy chairman of the lower house of parliament, Ivan Melnikov, reported that the Growth Party, the Communists of Russia, Yabloko and the Russian Ecological Party Greens then asked for the floor. It follows from the transcript of the meeting that representatives of 26 non-parliamentary parties were present in the hall. The floor was given to the chairman of the Central Committee of the Party “Communists of Russia” Maxim Suraikin (he has already left his post), the chairman of “Yabloko” Emilia Slabunova (she has already been replaced by Nikolai Rybakov), now the ex-secretary of the political council of the All-Russian political party “Rodina” Igor Zotov and a member of the General Council All-Russian political party “Party of Growth” Dmitry Tarasov.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, non-parliamentary parties were not invited to the State Duma. In November 2020, RIA Novosti, citing the agenda of the State Duma Council, reported that the speeches of non-parliamentary parties were postponed “to a later date” due to the threat of the spread of covid. On November 23, the State Duma press service reported that the council had decided to invite non-parliamentary parties to the government hour scheduled for December 7 with the participation of Minister Shadayev. The issue was worked out on behalf of the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin by the committee of the lower house of parliament for control. The press service clarified that the procedure for holding the government hour will be discussed on December 5. In previous years, such events were not held due to restrictions caused by the pandemic, Oleg Morozov, chairman of the Duma Control Committee, confirmed to Vedomosti: “Visits to the Duma were limited and the number of plenary meetings was reduced. Now there are no such restrictions and there is an opportunity to implement the relevant provision of the law “On Political Parties”.

The government hour, according to the committee, is a good form of participation of non-parliamentary parties [в работе Госдумы], says Morozov: “The proposal was ours. According to the regulations, it is our committee that proposes to the council the format for the participation of parties. Right hour is an interesting format. It has not been used before. You can ask questions, speak. The law states that all non-parliamentary parties are invited, Morozov stressed: “This will be done. On the topic, too, the choice is obvious. Of the three remaining topics of the rights hours, digitalization is the most attractive for cross-party discussion. This is also a proposal of our committee.”

According to Morozov’s first deputy, Mikhail Romanov, before the State Duma council, scheduled for next Monday, the committee will hold a meeting and deputies will discuss the possibility of giving the floor to parties not represented in the lower house of parliament. “We will submit to the council a proposal to give the floor to three non-parliamentary parties, we will select parties from the list based on the number of mandates that the party has in the country,” Romanov explained.

According to political scientist Alexander Kynev, based on these parameters, the Party of Pensioners for Social Justice, Rodina, Communists of Russia and Yabloko can apply for a speech at the right hour. “Out of 25 [непарламентских] about half of the parties do not participate in elections at all and do not nominate anyone, that is, they exist nominally, therefore it is not a fact that they will respond [на приглашение]”, – says Kinev.

The current chairman of the Central Committee of the Communists of Russia, Sergei Malinkovich, suggested that a representative of the party would visit the right hour. He noted that he would like to ask Shadayev about the digital divide between residents of large cities and residents of villages, as well as how the Ministry of Digital Transformation can, within its powers, fight aggression in the digital field from Western countries.

“Since the beginning of the special operation, our enemies have been doing everything to worsen the quality of services, for example, [происходит] shutdown of booking systems [авиабилетов]’, Malinkovic said. “Where are the successes on the front of the digital struggle against Western technologies? Let him answer, because it is not clear why we are constantly vulnerable in this area, ”summed up the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communists of Russia.

Chairman of the Central Council of the Party of Pensioners (did not participate in the event in 2019) Vladimir Burakov told Vedomosti that, if invited, the party would “unconditionally” take part in the parliamentary hour with Shadayev. He noted that in October the party held a round table on the topic of digitalization and among the issues raised were the difficulties in using services for pensioners who do not use Western software.

Yabloko is unlikely to attend a meeting of the lower house of parliament, Sergei Mitrokhin, a member of the Moscow City Duma and a member of the party’s federal political committee, told Vedomosti. He believes that the State Duma should invite “non-parliamentary parties to important discussions with speeches at the plenary.”

Vedomosti also sent a request to the Russian Ecological Party Greens, whose representative participated in the 2019 meeting but did not receive a response, as well as to the Rodina party.

Motherland, however, has a representative in the State Duma – party chairman Alexei Zhuravlev, but he is a member of the LDPR faction. And Oksana Dmitrieva (not a member of any of the factions) passed from the Party of Growth in a single-mandate district to the State Duma in 2021. She told Vedomosti that the party had not received a separate invitation to speak at the right hour with Shadayev.

“For non-parliamentary parties, visiting the State Duma is a way to make themselves known, a PR opportunity,” says political analyst Konstantin Kalachev. “And the selection of reasons for invitations should take into account their interests.” If this is not the case, then the parties can be used “for extras”. In addition, since October 18, State Duma sessions have not been broadcast on the website of the lower house of parliament, and the right hours can only be opened at the request of the invited head of the department.