The Russian parliament has always looked with awe at signals from the Kremlin which could be interpreted as the strengthening of the legislature's role. This is understandable. Surely, the deputies remember Dmitry Medvedev's verdict who said pointedly if a parliamentary republic is to appear in Russia, it will not happen too soon. Nevertheless, some steps in this direction have already been made, primarily that of making Vladimir Putin leader of the United Russia party. First, this has undoubtedly strengthened the party's control over the State Duma, the Russian parliament's lower house. Second, Vladimir Putin was appointed prime minister when he was already United Russia's leader. Third, a precedent has been created for Putin's politically resonant communication with the country while being Number One in the party. Amendments to the Constitution on the State Duma's control over the government and to the law on the government look rather weak against this background.
The Duma's new powers are obviously insufficient for real control over the government, at least for the time being. The government's new obligation to annually report to the State Duma on its activities may be called control in form but not in substance.
Recall the obvious. The main instrument of the parliament's control over the government is the budget, so there is no need to devise something special. The budget itself is law. The country's legislature (Federal Assembly) allocates the money which is used by the government. By giving money to the government, the parliamentarians, who not only legislate but also perform representative functions, represent all of us, too.
However, the Federal Assembly has given up this tool of control without the least resistance, albeit temporarily.
Let us recall some recent developments. First, the parliament gave its wholehearted support to the law on the budget for 2009 and for a period through 2011, with budget spending (for example, for 2009) projected on the basis of the average annual oil price of $95 per barrel. This happened at a time when oil prices plunged from a record high $150 to the sobering low of $50 per barrel. Everyone saw that the budget was floated and they all kept silent like in the fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes.
The government experts were confronted with the uphill battle of revising the budget, but as soon as a new draft was nearing the completion stage, oil prices fell again and work had to start over. Simultaneously, a more serious event occurred. With the law-makers' consent, amendments were made to the Budget Code allowing the government, without parliament participation, to amend, or, using a more appropriate term, to sequestrate the budget. A commission set up for this purpose includes seven representatives from each house of the Russian parliament.
With the law-makers excluded from the budget process, any talk about strengthening the Duma's control over the government is meaningless. The question arises: who controls whom?
I think the correct answer (if we take economic factors into account) is that the main regulator has been, and remains, the same as before, oil prices.
Nikolai Vardul