The bills offer numerous grounds on which members of the State Duma, lower house, may be expelled from parliament. One valid reason concerns parliamentarians who came to the Duma on party tickets to join their party group, and next shift to a group opposed to their own.
Another takes a Supreme Court verdict, and concerns MPs who run on their region's party ticket and later fail to cope with parliamentary duties.
"We may come up with fourteen bills as early as January to offer amendments to the laws, On the Guarantees of Franchise, On Political Parties, and On the Status of the Parliamentarian," said Mr. Veshnyakov.
The State Duma has approved in an initial reading an updated Duma election bill. It envisages a shift to a proportionate system of house formation, with the Duma elected on party tickets alone. As he was commenting on the prospects, Alexander Veshnyakov said the bill meant to promote the progress of Russia's political parties. "The Duma made a stride forward today as it passed the bill in its first reading. Now, if it gets through the second and third readings, and finds approval in the Federation Council [upper house], all 450 Duma members will be elected on the proportionate system," he added.
