RUSSIANS TO BID FAREWELL TO CONSTITUTION DAY

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MOSCOW, December 11 (RIA Novosti's Vladimir Pronin) - In all likelihood, tomorrow, on December 12, citizens of the Russian Federation are going to officially celebrate the Constitution Day for the last time.

On June 12, 1990, the 1st Congress of the People's Deputies of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, driven by the tide of sovereignization sweeping all Soviet Republics at the time, adopted a Declaration of Russia's Sovereignty. On December 12, 1993 a nationwide referendum approved the Constitution of post-Soviet Russia.

Deputies to Russia's two-house parliament, the Federation Assembly, were elected on the same date to mark the new era of Russian parliamentarism.

Adoption of the Constitution was preceded by a major political crisis - a standoff between President Yeltsin and parliament (at that time still called the Supreme Soviet, a precursor of a genuine legislature of a civilized democratic state).

The 1993 Constitution legitimized new relations between the major branches of power. De-facto, Russia became a presidential republic. Since then, two presidents have taken oaths with their hands on the text of the new Constitution, with the rules for organization of parliament's upper house having changed twice.

At least two political crises were successfully resolved within the framework of the new Constitution: the first caused by President's nomination of unacceptable (for the State Duma) candidates for the post of Prime Minister and the second when the MPs attempted to impeach President Yeltsin. The Constitution incorporates a set of reliable checks and balances which have proved their efficacy on many occasions over the past 11 years.

According to most experts in constitutional law, the country's Constitution (seemingly slapdash and adopted, some claim, specifically to suit President Yeltsin's well-known hankering for power) has proved to possess a surprisingly vast margin of safety, which, to this day, lets itserve as a mainstay in pursuit of further reform.

Currently, the Constitution is enjoying support of over a third of Russia's population, according to numerous public opinion polls conducted by nonetheless numerous public opinion study centers.

However, starting next year, Russians, in all likelihood, will no longer be able to mark December 12 as a national holiday. Before the end of 2004, the State Duma is going to adopt, in the second and third readings at once, a bill on holidays in the Russian Federation, with the Constitution Day missing on the list of the proposed national holidays.

In the first place, the MPs decided to make Russians a present of winter holidays lasting from the 1st to the 5th January and encompassing the traditional New Year celebrations. That, however, is not the whole of their gift - the bill envisages New Year celebrations smoothly extending into Christmas holidays. As a result, in 2005, for example, the winter holidays are going to last from the 1st to the 10th of January. The State Duma reformers decided to abolish Constitution Day on the grounds that in essence it duplicates Russia's Independence Day. As a result, MPs agreed to combine celebration of both holidays and mark Independence Day on June 12. The traditional celebration on November 7 will also cease to exist. Earlier, this date was first marked as the Great October Socialist Revolution anniversary and then, after 1991, the holiday was renamed as the Day of Accord and Reconciliation. Eventually, however, it proved impossible to foster accord and reconciliation on the basis of the events that had taken place in 1917. The MPs chose to accept a proposal put forward by Russia's Interfaith Council and move celebrations to an earlier date of November 4, the day, they argue, marking the end of the Trouble Times following the death of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. According to historians, the Trouble Times ended on November 4 (October 22 by the Julian calendar), 1612 whenthe last Polish invaders, entrenched in the Kremlin with the boyar hostages they had earlier seized, surrendered to the Russian militia troops led by Minin and Pozharsky. The proponents of this idea seem to associate the Polish occupation at the Trouble Times with the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in 1917.

The proposed changes will result in a fewer number of national holidays but a greater number of days off work, with each of those costing the treasury a hefty sum of $1 million. What is the point of a reform incurring the country extra costs? Given the rising living standards of most Russians today, with incomes steadily surpassing the cost of living, people need an extra incentive for work. If earlier people had to work to survive, now they need rest to work more effectively. MPs believe that people simply need time to enjoy the fruits of their work today. Independent observers, however, believe that the whole rigmarole of abolishing the old and introducing new holidays has been launched with the sole purpose of distracting the public opinion from the difficult questions arising in the course of implementation of President Putin's current reforms.

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