Putin’s MPs

After the start of war, Russian MPs stopped pretending they are from different parties: all now vote unanimously, passing laws twice as quickly as before. A data study by Novaya-Europe

On 12 April, the State Duma, lower house of Russia’s Parliament, adopted amendments to the law On Military Service that radically change the army conscription system. Digital draft notices are now equal to regular ones, and draft dodgers can be stripped of their rights (banned from leaving the country, restricted from dealing with property, and so on). The way these amendments were passed came as a surprise even to MPs themselves: they were shown the nearly 60-page bill two hours before the vote, and the entire procedure, from announcement to adoption, took 20 hours. Novaya Gazeta Europe retraced the story of the Duma’s transformation into a legislative conveyor belt that is now sending Russians to war.

Back in 2003, former Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov coined the catchphrase “Parliament is no place for discussion”. Since then, lawmakers have gradually become more unanimous, more disciplined, and more sensitive to the government’s proposals, Novaya Gazeta wrote back in 2021.

After war broke out, however, the Russian Parliament threw off their masks for good. They now vote almost unanimously on bills which are important for the government, and legislate on war issues at a rate unprecedented even for the times of the Duma’s 4th convocation, which was dubbed “the mad printer” for its speed of lawmaking.

The best illustration of how the State Duma works now is the controversial e-draft bill.

Less than a day — 20 hours and 40 minutes — passed between the first public mention and the third reading of a bill that could affect the fate of millions of Russians.

Even the Duma members themselves saw the 59-page text for the first time only on the day they were to vote on it. “There have been cases in the history of the State Duma when amendments have been passed shortly after hearing about them. But to pass an entire law after watching a TV interview and taking two hours to read the bill, right in the session hall — as far as I can remember, this is a first,” Communist Party member Nina Ostanina said.

Dura lex, sed lex, replied Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. And added: “Why did you become members of the Duma? To sabotage its decisions?”

In the end, the amendments allowing the restriction of draft dodgers’ rights were passed by 394 votes out of 450. Dmitry Kuznetsov, member of A Just Russia, abstained, allegedly having accidentally pressed the wrong button. The most that those MPs dissatisfied with the procedure could afford to do was simply not to vote at all.

We do not know yet how many MPs were present but did not vote at all, since the transcript of the session has not been published. Some cases have already come to light, however. These MPs include Sardana Avksentyeva from the New People party, Valery Gartung from A Just Russia — For Truth, as well as Yury Napso and Valery Seleznyov from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR).

According to Novaya-Europe’s calculations, in 2022, the Duma passed two-thirds of all bills introduced since the start of the war. That is a total of 653 bills — an all-time record in the history of modern Russia. In the first full year since the start of the war, the proportion of bills approved has risen to 70%.

Much of this “efficiency” is made possible by the fact that the ruling United Russia party has 72% of seats in Parliament — a constitutional majority. Moreover, in recent years the freedom of MPs to introduce their own bills has been noticeably restricted. In order to reduce the number of “populist” initiatives, MPs were advised to first coordinate their bills with the leadership of their factions.

In 2023, the proportion of bills passed has so far held steady at 40%. However, this figure may rise by the end of the year.

United party of war

“The unity of society, the mobilisation of all forces, parties, movements… What matters most to us now is the ‘party of Russia’, its sovereignty, independence, our common freedom”, Gennady Zyuganov, head of Russia’s main “opposition party”, the Communist CPRF, told Putin in a meeting on 13 February.

“Until the special military operation is completed there can only be one party for all of us — the PARTY OF VICTORY. Both on the frontlines and on the home front!” — LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky wrote the next day, inviting all parties to unite.

The MPs, however, did not need an invitation. Already a year before the war, an average of 50-55% of lawmakers supported any bill in the first reading.

The most active party was Just Russia — For Truth. On average, 62% of its representatives voted for each bill.

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the percentage of bill approval by all factions rose sharply. All five parliamentary parties now vote as one. Even New People, who positioned themselves as a liberal party in the last elections, advocating for freedom of speech, political competition, and the development of entrepreneurship, now support bills together with United Russia.

Moreover, in 2022, 544 laws were voted in with a nearly unanimous 90% approval rate. This is almost 2.5 times more bills than in 2021, during which there were 229 such cases.

Among the initiatives with the highest number of votes (420+ out of 450) are bills postponing the introduction of compulsory motor third-party liability insurance (OSAGO) in the occupied regions of Ukraine, extending combat veteran status to volunteers and mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, and raising social benefits for disabled children. All of these are bills that, although related to the war, can be considered social.

The MPs were somewhat less active when voting for repressive bills. 400 to 410 people voted for the new laws on “army discreditation”, the banning of “LGBT propaganda”, and the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

Although the Duma has long since become an imitative institution, its members were far more likely to express disagreement with the general line in the past. In the last convocation (until the fall of 2021), there was oftentimes no unanimous support for a given bill. Occasionally even United Russia’s initiatives were met with resistance, said political analyst Vladimir Gelman.

MPs dissatisfied with a bill often abstained from voting.

In 2019-2021, for example, 21-24% of Duma members on average registered for a session, but did not take part in the vote.

This was a safe form of speaking out against an initiative without repercussions.

In the case of unpopular initiatives, members of parties other than United Russia could even vote “against” demonstratively. For example, when the bill raising the retirement age was being passed, 83 people from all factions voted against it.

Nowadays there is almost no room for protest or non-participation. On average, less than 2% of MPs press the “against” or “abstain” buttons when voting. The share of those not participating in the vote at all while present at the session is 14%.

The rubber-stamping of laws and the unprecedented unification of Parliament around the executive branch of government has logically led to bills now being considered ever faster. In 2022-2023, the average time span between a bill’s introduction to the Duma to its being signed by the president was only 99 days. War-related bills were passed even quicker, in 54 days — less than two months!

Our methodology

Using the Duma’s website API we downloaded all data concerning bills and votes.

We took 17 February 2021 to 22 February 2022 for the “pre-war year”. We began calculating the war period starting on 25 February 2022, also including two bills ratifying mutual assistance treaties with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”, which were registered on 22 February 2022.

The data for 2023 in the second and third graphs was collected through 23 February 2023.

Finally, here are examples of bills — 25 in total — passed and signed into law in just one week. These include:

• The ratification of the Treaties of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”, as well as bills on the annexation of four regions of Ukraine;

• The suspension of the New START arms treaty;

• Granting the status of combat veteran to all participants in the “special operation”;

• The simplification of permit and licensing procedures due to sanctions;

• Bills on the specifics of budget execution in 2022.

“The problem is not so much the speed of bill consideration as the fact that the most substantial discussion — the trading between stakeholders — takes place behind the scenes and not in a plenary session”, explains Ekaterina Shulman, political scientist and lawmaking expert. “If you [United Russia — editor’s note] have a majority, especially a constitutional one, you have no reason to discuss anything at all, you can just pass whatever you want without asking anyone.”

Infographics: Artyom Schtschennikow