| JRL HOME | SUPPORT | SUBSCRIBE | RESEARCH & ANALYTICAL SUPPLEMENT | |
Old Saint Basil's Cathedral in MoscowJohnson's Russia List title and scenes of Saint Petersburg
Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson

#2
BBC Monitoring
Politicians debate amendments as Russia celebrates Constitution Day
Source: NTV, Moscow, in Russian 0500 gmt 12 Dec 01

[Presenter] Today is the eighth anniversary of the Russian constitution. It is being celebrated against the backdrop of repeated suggestions of amending this country's fundamental law. The discussion was rekindled after the newly elected speaker of the Federation Council, Sergey Mironov, said that a four-year presidential term was too short.

The constitution that has not been amended since 1993 is now on the brink of reform. Three of its articles are untouchable, and can only be amended through a constitutional assembly, the other articles introducing changes to the existing bodies of power can be amended by a simple majority vote.

There is no uniform opinion in Russia as to whether its fundamental law needs to be amended or not.

[Boris Nemtsov, captioned as head of the Union of Right Forces faction in the State Duma] On the whole, the constitution is a good one. It is another matter that in many respects it still remains a declaration of intent. Our goal is to make it a working document and not a document that presents interest only to historians and lawyers. Freedom of speech, civil rights and freedoms, the division of power aimed at preventing authoritarian rule are all guaranteed in Russia, at least in the constitution. We, the Union of Right Forces, are against amending the constitution, particularly its fundamental articles.

[Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, captioned as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party] I think that three sets of amendments need to be introduced by all means. Firstly, Russia should consist of larger territorial units. Secondly, the presidential term needs to be extended because this country is so huge that the president needs four years just to get to know it, which leaves no time for actually ruling it. And, lastly, there should be a reform of the parliament. The upper chamber needs to be dissolved: it is absolutely superfluous.

Back to the Top    Next Article