THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF LENINGRAD OBLAST
Summary Basic information

Summary

Text by: Stanislav Tkachenko (et al.)
St. Petersburg State University, Faculty of International Relations,
October 2001

The Legislative Assembly of Leningrad region is a permanent institution of legislative and representative state power in the region. Its rights and duties have been fixed in Constitution of Russian Federation, federal legislation and the Charter of Leningrad region (article 31). "The Regulations of the Legislative Assembly of Leningrad region" formulate the principles of work and structure of the institution.

The Legislative Assembly of Leningrad region consists now of 50 members. Elections to the Assembly are held every four years by the population of Leningrad region. There were only 25 members during first term of the Assembly, started in March 1994 soon after adoption of new Russian Constitution in December 1993. Now the number of members of Legislative assemblies in Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad region are the same - 50 members. Currently, the chairman of the Legislative Assembly is Mr. Vitaly Klimov.

The structure of the Legislative Assembly is following:

  • The Commission for Legislation;
  • The Commission for Budget and Taxes;
  • The Commission for Administrative and Territorial Issues, Local Self-administration, and Regional Links;
  • The Commission for Agriculture, Wood Processing Industry, and Consumer Market;
  • The Commission for Health and Social Policies;
  • The Commission for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, and Sports;
  • The Commission for Industry, Transport, Communications, and Roads;
  • The Commission for Housing and Communal Facilities, Fuel and Energy Sector, and Construction;
  • The Commission for Economics, Property, and Investment;
  • The Commission for Legal and Military Issues;
  • The Commission for Environmental Safety and Natural Resource Use.

Each member of the Assembly is involved in the activities of several committees of the Assembly.

48 of 50 members of the Assembly elected n 1997 had higher education, 6 of them are doctors of science and 2 - professors. It was one of the most "educated" regional parliaments of Russia. Usually the Assembly has just one session per month with very intensive schedule (up to 70 issues in agenda). It means that the Assembly is very dependent on its administrative structures, but more generally - on the Government of Leningrad region. Contrary to traditions, existing in Saint-Petersburg, experts don't evaluate Leningrad region as region with democratic traditions. The most popular slogan during election campaigns in the region is "Order and Stability". Due to frequent visits of President Vladimir Putin to Saint-Petersburg, leaders of Leningrad region (Valery Serdyukov and Klimov) are becoming political figures of federal scale, but in practice the regional elite totally accepted idea of reshaping power structure in Russia in favor of the Presidential Administration. There never been political opposition to Moscow from the only region in Russia, which still keep name of the Communist leader Vladimir Lenin!