Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia located in the Northwestern Federal District. Oblast is administratively separate from Saint-Petersburg. The population of Oblast stands at 1,669,205 as of 2002 All-Russian Population Census. The first elections to the Leningrad Region Legislative Assembly were held in 1994, at that time the Legislature had 25 seats. The next elections were held in 1997 and 2001 respectively. In 1997 the number of seats increased to 50. The deputies are elected for a 5-year term. At present, the pro-Presidential parties: the United Russia, Motherland and the Liberal-Democratic party of Russia have more than 50% of the seats in the Leningrad Region Legislative Assembly.
The official web-site of the Legislative assembly of Leningrad region is: http://www.lenoblzaks.ru/
In English: http://eng.lenobl.ru/parliament.
More information on the activity of the Legislative Assembly can be found in the leading regional newspaper Vesti.
According to the Charter of Saint-Petersburg, the Legislative Assembly of Saint-Petersburg is a permanent legislative body. It consists of 50 deputies elected through direct secret balloting procedure. The deputies of the Legislative Assembly are elected for a four year term and their activity can not be interrupted by any authority before a four year term has expired. The deputies of the Legislative Assembly receive salary from the local budget and may not be involved in any other activity except that of an academic nature.
The scale of responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly's deputies is significant. For example, Saint-Petersburg's budget legislation is the most developed in Russia, and the Saint-Petersburg budget is not far from meeting the criteria of transparency in accordance with the world's highest standards. The Legislative Assembly plays a crucial role in the process of budget formation. Through the Chamber of Control and Audit the Assembly receives full information concerning the budget of Saint-Petersburg and ways of spending public money by the Government of Saint Petersburg. In practice, there are no limitations on legislative initiative on at the local level.
The principle of division of power has been in use in Saint-Petersburg for many years, especially during long periods of conflict between the Legislative Assembly of St-Petersburg and Governor Vladimir Yakovlev (1996-2003). Since the victory of a pro-Kremlin candidate Valentina Matvienko in the gubernatorial elections in October 2003, there has been a close cooperation between the Legislative Assembly and the Governor with obvious domination of the Governor in this relationship.
The results of parliamentary elections to the Legislative Assembly in December 2003 have demonstrated the real balance of political forces in the city. Four federal political parties have their factions in the Legislative Assembly:
First elections to the legislative Assembly of Saint-Petersburg took place in November 1994 and the first session of the newly regional parliament was held on December 14th, 1994.
The Assembly plays a crucial role in appointment of key persons in the Administration of Saint-Petersburg. A number of vice-governors and heads of committees of the Administration may not perform their duties without official confirmation from the Assembly. In order to be appointed to high posts in the Administration, the candidates, endorsed by of the Governor, should receive support of at least 26 of 50 members of the Assembly.
According to Article 16 of the Charter of Saint-Petersburg, the Legislative Assembly plays the leading role in political life of the city together with the Administration under leadership of the Governor, and institution of judicial state power - the Charter Court of Saint-Petersburg.
The Assembly has its own representative in the upper house of Russian Parliament - the Council of Federation. Currently former deputy of the Assembly Sergey Mironov is representing the Legislative Assembly in Moscow and is the Head of the Council of Federation.
There are two permanent committees in the structure of the Assembly:
There are also seven permanent commissions, whose role in law-making process and performing control functions by the Assembly is significant, even if slightly smaller, compared to power of permanent committees. The commissions are the following: 1) on structure of public institutions and municipal formations; 2) on education, culture and science; 3) on management of territory and city's infrastructure; 4) on health and ecology; 5) on social issues; 6) on law enforcement; 7) on industry, economics and property.