No Reason For Early Dissolution of State Duma – MP

MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) – The chairman of the State Duma Constitutional Legislation and State Development Committee, Vladimir Pligin, has said he sees no reason to dissolve the current State Duma before its term in office expires.

“There are no grounds to dissolve the current State Duma, which was elected in accordance with laws and the constitution. That is why I see no reason to question its legitimacy,” Pligin said at a press conference at the Interfax central office, answering a question from the agency’s journalist.

Some persons who have called into question the legitimacy of the current State Duma work in this Duma themselves, he said.

“People who seek to question its legitimacy hold seats in the State Duma and work in it, thereby agreeing with its legitimacy,” Pligin said.

Signatures collected online in favor of dissolving the State Duma have been analyzed, but grounds for taking this step are still absent, he said.

The results of this analysis will be presented to journalists who work in parliament, Pligin said.

The procedure for considering initiatives supported by at least 100,000 signatures is regulated by a presidential decree, he said.

“The constitution of the Russian Federation does not say that the issue of dissolving the Duma can be raised when signatures are collected,” Pligin said.

On February 20, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin forwarded the electronic signatures collected by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper to a number of the chamber’s committees, including the Committee for Public and Religious Organizations.

All four parliamentary factions were invited to discuss the situation surrounding the existence of 137,000 signatures in favor of the State Duma’s dissolution.