Olga Pavlikova
Vladimir Putin to be accorded special honours in the lower house.
The presidium of the United Russia parliamentary party instructed the Duma Rules Committee yesterday to develop regulations on the special procedure of holding the Government Hour while the Prime Minister is in attendance. His address is envisaged under presidential amendments to the Constitution.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to deliver a report on the Government's work in 2008 during the spring session. As a rule, rank-and-file ministers made such reports to the legislators in February and March.
"The Prime Minister's report should differ from ordinary Government Hours both in form and content. The Prime Minister's annual speech should be a major report whose results lead to the adoption of recommendations and resolutions. There should be no questions from deputies because that would make Putin's report indistinguishable from reports by Cabinet Ministers," First Deputy Head of the United Russian parliamentary party Valery Ryazansky told Gazeta.
The Duma Rules Committee declined to make any advance comments, though the Committee's Chief of Staff, Gennady Lemeshov, interviewed by a Gazeta correspondent, said that corresponding amendments should first be developed by the Government and introduced in the government rules, and only then would similar amendments be adopted by the lower house of parliament. The Government will send its proposals to the Rules Committee today.
Meanwhile, the KPRF parliamentary party is unhappy that the Duma majority will not be allowed to express its opinion on the Government report. "If the deputies have no chance to put any number of questions to the Prime Minister, or at least one question from each parliamentary party, as is the case during the Government Hour today, the whole idea of the annual report is devalued. Vladimir Putin should not only report on budget expenditure and the anti-crisis measures, he should know that the deputies have the right to table a motion of no-confidence in him and other ministers," Valery Rashkin, a Communist member of the Duma Rules Committee told Gazeta.
He believes it is wrong to have a special annual procedure for the Prime Minister's address. He believes that the Prime Minister should report to the deputies whenever a critical situation arises.
In another departure from tradition, the heads of state-owned corporations will report to the Duma for the first time this year. Duma Vice-Speaker Svetlana Zhurova announced yesterday that the presidium of United Russia yesterday backed the proposal of the Head of the Duma Constitutional Legislation and State Development Committee, Vladimir Pligin, to the effect that the heads of state-owned corporations must report to the Duma together with the ministers and heads of federal agencies.
"State corporations are mainly financed out of the budget, and it is quite reasonable to invite them to the State Duma so that their heads may answer questions from the deputies as well as government members when this or that problem is discussed. For example, many deputies would like to put their questions to the head of the state corporation in charge of housing and utilities issues," Ms Zhurova noted.