Low incomes of citizens remain one of the main problems in Russia. Vladimir Putin said this on October 12 at a meeting with deputies of the State Duma of the VIII convocation… The government must submit new proposals to support Russians within a month. In total, in the next three years, the authorities plan to allocate about 41.5 trillion rubles for social support of the population. The experts interviewed by Izvestia are confident that the new deputy corps will focus primarily on solving social and economic problems… The President recalled that for each deputy – the hopes of specific votersand it is important that all legislative initiatives are closely aligned with national development goals.
Renewal course
Vladimir Putin received the newly elected parliamentarians in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace on the day of the first meeting of the new convocation of the State Duma. The President noted that the parliamentary corps after the last vote has significantly renewed: out of 450 legislators, almost half will work for the first time in the lower house of the Federal Assembly… At the same time, the vector for updating was set by United Russia. Its faction, which retained its constitutional majority, also has almost 50% of new deputies, the head of state emphasized.
In his opening speech, the president, first of all, tried to convey to parliamentarians the idea of the importance of cooperation for the development and well-being of the country. That is political differences should not become an obstacle to solving the main challenges…
– Behind each deputy, each faction – the hopes of specific people, voters – your voters… Their voice, orders, proposals, even if they represent a minority, must be heard, the Russian leader emphasized. – Of course, you will strive to fulfill both your promises and the programs of the parties, and put forward legislative initiatives. It is very important that they are closely aligned with our national development goals so that we all act together for the common good…
At the same time, the main task of the authorities is to solve urgent social and economic problems. In particular, in the coming years in Russia it is necessary to form an integral system of support for families with children, starting from the moment when the expectant mother is just waiting for the baby to appear, until he graduates from school, said Vladimir Putin.
Besides, it is important to achieve an increase in the income of citizens and the creation of new jobs in all regions of the country. Required further economic growth and support for high-tech industries, as well as the removal of barriers that still restrict the development of small businesses…
– And I repeat: our main enemy, a threat to stable development, to the demographic future is low incomes of our citizens, millions of our people– said Vladimir Putin, adding that acute problems in healthcare, education, housing policy, and the environment also require special attention.
Main priorities
Some of the first bills to be considered by legislators will be the federal budget and the budgets of extra-budgetary funds.… These documents contain just three key priorities: social policy, economic development and health care, the president recalled.
For the next three years 15.1 trillion rubles will be allocated for economic development and regional support, and 10.9 trillion rubles for healthcare, stated the head of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile the largest budget item concerns social policy, primarily, support for families with children and older people. It is planned to allocate 41.5 trillion rubles for this., he specified.
Against the backdrop of a pandemic and a difficult situation in the global economy, active actions of the authorities, including the deputy corps, are needed. In particular, additional difficulties are created by high inflation, which this year, according to the president, will exceed the forecast level of 5.8%.
– Higher inflation, of course, hits the poorest population groups hard. We must understand this, know and react accordingly.– said the president.
According to official statistics, there are about 19 million people below the poverty line in Russia today, State Duma deputy Irina Pankina said in an interview with Izvestia. However, experts say that the real figure could be significantly higher, she said.
– Wherein a rather high rate of unemployed among young people. We have to solve this problem in difficult conditions, when, moreover, the automation of labor is increasing.… In this regard, it is necessary to develop social policy and expand measures to support the population and business, especially the most vulnerable groups. Moreover, the support should be of a systemic nature, – said the parliamentarian.
In her opinion, it is necessary to provide mechanisms to stimulate employers to hire young specialists, as well as people with disabilities who are still often denied employment.
Consecutive course
According to Vladimir Putin, social payments, which are financed from the federal budget, should be indexed by actual inflation in 2022. The head of the Russian Federation proposed to switch to the same scheme when calculating maternity capital…
In this regard, the President asked the deputies to adopt the necessary amendments to the law. Vladimir Putin also instructed the government to submit additional proposals on measures of social support for Russians within a month.…
– The agenda to be implemented by the Duma is the presidential one: social initiatives, national projects and infrastructure development, strengthening democratic institutions in the center and at the local level… This agenda is comprehensively formulated in the messages of Vladimir Putin. Finally, it is logical for the president to expect from the Duma joint responsibility with the executive branch for pursuing a political course for which a mandate has once again been received from citizens, ”APEC head Dmitry Orlov told Izvestia.
Political strategist Alexander Tverdov also believes that the State Duma will consistently implement the social course of the state, taken by Vladimir Putin. According to the expert, the parliamentarians coped well with this in the VII convocation, which is why the leadership of the lower chamber was again entrusted to Vyacheslav Volodin.
– The President noted the importance of the MPs hearing their voters. This is very important not only for the State Duma, but also for the entire institution of state power., who will have to overcome a new wave of coronavirus infection, taking into account the economic and social consequences, the expert explained.
Meanwhile the president also stopped on the fight against coronavirus… It still continues, and an increase in the incidence is now recorded in many regions. Vladimir Putin recalled that vaccination is capable of saving people from infection and a severe course of the disease, which means that it is necessary to increase the rate of vaccination. On this background the president asked the deputies to conduct educational work and appear in the media…
Most in favor
As for the first meeting of the State Duma of the VIII convocation, which took place before the meeting with the president, it, as planned, was of an organizational nature.… The deputies considered 16 issues on the agenda, which related to personnel appointments, work plans, as well as the creation of new parliamentary commissions. The only thing that was surprising was the number of people’s representatives who sat in the hall without masks, clearly neglecting precautions. Although the leadership of the Duma admitted that some of the parliamentarians were unable to attend this plenary because of the coronavirus detected in them. In total, according to the results of registration, 427 out of 450 deputies were present.
According to the norms of the Constitution, the meeting was opened by the oldest deputy, the first woman-cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.
– Dear deputies, let me congratulate you on the successful completion of the election campaign and your election to the State Duma of the VIII convocation. In accordance with the resolution of the CEC, the elections were recognized as valid, and their results were valid, ”the United Russia deputy stressed.
450 deputies were elected to the State Duma. “United Russia” received 324 mandates, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation – 57, “Fair Russia – For the Truth” – 27, the Liberal Democratic Party – 21, “New People” – 13… The parties Civic Platform, Party of Growth and Rodina received one mandate each, and self-nominated candidates received five mandates. Valentina Tereshkova stressed that the quality of life of every Russian and the well-being of the country depend on the efficiency of the State Duma.
Also, her colleagues, the oldest deputies of the other four parties, who received the right to take seats on the presidium, congratulated on the election of deputies: cosmonaut, test pilot, Communist Party deputy Svetlana Savitskaya, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, State Duma deputy from Fair Russia – For the Truth Galina Khovanskaya and leader of the New People party Alexei Nechaev.
Svetlana Savitskaya wished the new Duma not to violate Article 55 of the Constitution, which states that laws that diminish the rights and freedoms of citizens should not be applied in Russia. Galina Khovanskaya reminded her colleagues that they did not come to the State Duma for benefits – cars and apartments. Aleksey Nechaev noted that for the first time in many years a fifth faction appeared in parliament, and promised to work on developing the country’s economy and reducing administrative barriers for business.
After congratulations and approval of work plans, the State Duma held elections for the parliament leadership, heads of committees and first deputies. The most interesting was the vote for the speaker of this convocation. United Russia, Viacheslav Volodin, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Novikov, nominated their own candidates. They talked about how they see the leadership of the parliament, after which the factions asked their questions to each of them.
The authorities asked the nominee of the party about the reduction in funds for the development of the agro-industrial complex, the need for new measures to combat COVID-19, and whether the heads of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee will be summoned to parliament.
The communist was asked by colleagues whether the party, if elected, would continue to hold unauthorized rallies without observing social distance in the midst of the height of the pandemic.and.
As a result, by a majority vote Viacheslav Volodin was elected speaker of the State Duma of the VIII convocation. 360 deputies voted for him… His competitor got 61 votes. Another 29 parliamentarians abstained.
– Thanks for the support. I hope that it will be in the future, regardless of party affiliation, because we have one country: Russia, – Vyacheslav Volodin thanked his colleagues for the election.
According to him, his the first full-fledged meeting of the State Duma will be held on October 14… Until that time, the parliamentary committees will need to hold meetings and decide on the agenda. He also noted that in total the portfolio of parliament currently contains 1242 bills, of which about 900 have not yet been considered in the first reading…