THE GOVERNMENT AND MINISTRIES

The President appoints the head of the Government with the consent of the State Duma. The President chooses a candidate and presents him to the Duma, which can either accept or reject him within one week. If the Duma does not accept the candidate, the president must make another proposition. If the Duma disapproves the candidate three times, the President can order new parliamentary elections.

The President also appoints the ministers, upon the proposal of the Head of the Government. There is no such practice that the Government should represent the majority of the Parliament. The President can also preside at sessions of the Government; he can also overrule government decrees. According to the Constitution, the President is entitled to dismiss the Government, even in the absence of a lack of confidence from the Federal Assembly.

Also the Duma has the parliamentary right to dismiss the Government by giving a vote of no confidence. However, in such situations, the President has the right to dismiss the Duma if he disagrees with its lack of confidence. Such a provision reduces parliamentarism to a minimum and the role of the government to a tool of the president.

The Government bodies include 23 ministries, seven state committees, two federal committees, 11 federal services, several agencies and other institutions. While the Prime Minister is the Head of the Government, the "power ministries", that is, ministries of defence, foreign, interior, and emergency situations and so on, are directly under the rule of the President.