The government is strengthening control over ministries’ responses to parliamentary requests

The government regulations have been supplemented with a new article, according to which responses to parliamentary inquiries or senators’ requests regarding the consideration of bills must be prepared taking into account the government’s position.

Copies of the answers must be sent to the government, the changes say (Vedomosti has read them). The same procedure is being introduced for responses to requests from parliamentary committees and commissions.

If there is no official response yet with the government’s position, then ministries and departments send the draft letter for approval to the government office no later than five days before the deadline for responding to the request (30 days).

The White House was most likely forced to make such tightening by the frequent leaks of the positions of individual ministries to the media, which were often provoked by parliamentarians themselves, wishful thinking, believes political scientist Pavel Sklyanchuk.

Support of the bill by one ministry does not guarantee a positive response from the government to the draft federal law, the expert adds. Now, according to him, the government apparatus headed by Dmitry Grigorenko will be able to coordinate and promptly respond to media reports about support or rejection of this or that deputy and senatorial initiative.

The first deputy head of the State Duma control committee, Mikhail Romanov (United Russia), supports these changes: according to him, it often happened that deputies, collecting feedback from ministries on their initiatives, received a positive response from some of them, announced this, and the government in the end it was not supported. The new approach improves the quality of government responses because “it’s important to tell the truth to people,” he notes.

The deputy cited as an example his initiative to return the sale of beer at stadiums (in order to equalize the rights of all fans at the stadium): several ministries support it, in particular the Ministry of Sports, but the Ministry of Health does not, but the government will decide.