Zatulin believes Russia needs constitutional model like that of US
Kyiv, December 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – State Duma Deputy and Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Konstantin Zatulin has said he believes that Russia needs a constitutional model similar to that of the United States.
"If we take the long term, I believe that our country should get rid of the post of prime minister and the government in the form in which it has always existed, and switch to [the type of] constitutional model that exists, for example, in the United states, where there is the presidential office, where there is no constant conflict between the presidential administration - the second government - and the government itself, and when there is one government - the government of the president. I think that we should expand the powers of parliament under which ministers could be discussed in parliament, could be voted on if necessary, or there could be a vote of no confidence in a concrete minister," he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Wednesday.
"Of course, parliamentarians may not be ready to dismiss the government. But even the current composition of the State Duma just dreamed of an opportunity to dismiss several ministers, and their names are well known: Fursenko, Serdyukov, Golikova. And the dismissal of these ministers, I'm sure, would have given a boost to United Russia and the ruling party in general, but this did not happen," Zatulin said.
He said that the conclusions from the election results concerned the need to change the electoral system.
"There was no serious need to give up majority districts. Voters want to deal with their specific deputies. The previous system, which is now being restored in Ukraine, existed in our country, and now there is talk that it may be restored. It's a mixed system," he said.
Zatulin said that Russia should lower the electoral threshold, which now stands at 7%.
"It prevents a number of political forces from winning seats in parliament, and that's bad, because they all take to the streets together, and it's absolutely unnecessary. They could help and they could add their votes, and there are votes in society, they especially exist on the Internet, in large cities. I mean the rightists, and I mean the nationalists, and they should also be present [in parliament]: it's better to keep them closer, rather than farther away, beyond the walls of parliament," he said.
Zatulin noted that the parliamentary elections in Russia had shown the current demand in society for change and updating.