State Duma

From Open Encyclopedia

For other uses of "State Duma", see State Duma (disambiguation).

The State Duma (Russian: Государственная дума (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), common abbreviation: Госдума (Gosduma)) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (legislature), the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. It's headquartered in Moscow along with the Federation Council and the president of Russia. Its members are referred to as deputies.

The enumerated power of the State Duma are:

To adopt federal laws (by a majority of deputies) and amend the constitution (two thirds majority is required), which must then be approved by the Federation Council and signed by the President
To break the veto of the Federation Council of Russia on a federal law by two thirds majority
To override the veto of the President on a federal law by two thirds majority together with three quarters of votes of Federation Council
To initiate impeachment proceedings against the President by two thirds majority

Under Constitution of the Russian Federation, 1993, there are 450 deputies of the State Duma (Article 95), each elected to a term of four years (Article 96). Russian citizens at least 21 years old are eligible to run for the Duma (Article 97).

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Current composition

Affiliation	Delegates	Seats	Popular vote
United Russia	305	67.78%	37.57%
Communist Party	46	10.22%	12.61%
Liberal-Democratic Party	35	7.78%	11.45%
Rodina	31	6.89%	9.02%
People's Will - Socialist United Party	12	2.67%	n/a
Independent	7	3.78%	n/a
Total	450	100%	100%