Russian constitution should allow Duma to terminate ministerial powers - LDPR
MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) - The Russian constitution should be changed to allow the State Duma to be elected by straight-ticket voting only and to allow the State Duma to both approve and terminate ministerial mandates, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) said.
The proposed amendments were published by LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
At issue are the provisions of several articles and the preamble. The preamble, in particular, could be rephrased from "We, the Russian and other peoples" to "We, the multi-ethnic people of the Russian Federation," the LDPR said.
Also, elections should be held on party tickets only, so that one party cannot win more than 40% of the seats. The constitution could also spell out the right of the State Duma to terminate as well as approve the powers of government members.
Further, the Fundamental Law should do away with "ethnic borders within Russia," and a clause concerning "mineral resources being state property." Likewise, the rule of international law and the ban on ideology should be abolished.
Pensions could be indexed at least once a year.
On January 23, the State Duma passed on first reading the constitutional amendments "On improving the regulation of certain matters in organizing public administration," which were proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Members of the Communist Party and the A Just Russia party of the State Duma have already submitted their proposals.
The second reading, initially scheduled for February 11, has been postponed due to the need to process a large amount of amendments which the working group in charge of constitutional amendments received from citizens, civic groups, political parties, and the regions.
The group is to accept amendments until February 14.