No change on Okhotny station*: what the new State Duma with the old speaker will be like

As a result, 360 deputies voted for Volodin, and 61 deputies voted for the representative of the Communist Party faction. United Russia party Alexander Zhukov and communist Ivan Melnikov were approved as the first vice-speakers.

They held these posts in the previous Duma as well. Of the nine vice-speakers, six are United Russia. These are Alexey Gordeev, Pyotr Tolstoy and Irina Yarovaya, who already held these positions in the previous convocation, to whom were added the leader of the United Russia faction in the State Duma of the seventh convocation Sergey Neverov, the former presidential commissioner for children's rights Anna Kuznetsova and the ex-head of Tuva Sholban Kara- Ool.

The former deputy head of Rosobrnadzor Boris Chernyshov became the vice-speaker of the Liberal Democratic Party, Alexander Babakov from A Just Russia - For the Truth, and Vladislav Davankov was elected vice-speaker from the New People party.

Political analyst Alexey Makarkin considered this event a sign of a high degree of continuity of this State Duma with the previous convocation:

“For the first time since 2007, the chairman of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, has been elected for a second term, under which the influence of the lower house of parliament in the system of state power has significantly increased. As a result of the adoption of the constitutional amendments, the Duma received a new prerogative - to directly participate in the formation of the government, voting for the candidacies of deputy prime ministers and ministers. The first voting on candidates took place in the Seventh Duma - the current deputies will also, of course, use this right.

During the period of the pandemic, the Duma passed in an orderly manner, without reducing its legislative activity - both at plenary sessions and in committees. But even before it, hearings on key issues of concern to citizens - from the rights of equity holders to renovation - began to be held at the Duma's site, as a result of which various interests were coordinated and bills were amended on their basis. There is every reason to believe that this practice will continue in the current Duma.

As well as in the current Duma, other established practices will also be preserved. Half of the chairmen of parliamentary committees, as before, belong to the parliamentary opposition. Volodin especially drew attention to the need to take into account the opinions of all factions, since they all represent the interests of a significant number of voters. The combination of factional discussions (the number of factions in it increased from four to five) on politically significant issues with consensus in the adoption of most bills will remain (almost four-fifths of them were adopted in the last Duma with the support of all factions). The number of adopted laws of direct action that do not require additional regulatory legal acts of the government will be increased - in the first half of this year there were two-thirds of those adopted by the Duma.

Thus, the Duma will remain both a place for discussion and an efficient legislative body..."

But ordinary users of social networks were not too happy about this news:

- There are no deviations from the plan! It means that there won't be big changes in the near future. You just have to tighten your belts and put off provisions and finances for a rainy day!

- They have retired with a high size since the last century. Old, privileged, with a set of age-related diseases in old age, citizens, continue to set the agenda in strengthening the state of stagnation and degradation of the economy and political life of the country for the next five years. Is this constructive mockery of common sense going to continue for another five years? Is there really no more competent young, energetic, literate and professional people in the country, except for these deeply venerable age, grandmothers and grandfathers, who could tell stories to children and grandchildren at home?

* State Duma is situated near the Okhotny ryad subway station