3rd State Duma

The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 3rd convocation (

Until the election of the Chairman of the State Duma of the meeting, the position was filled by the oldest deputy – 79 year-old of Yegor Ligachyov – according to traditions.

On January 18, 2000, the parliament elected Gennadiy Seleznyov as the Chairman of the State Duma.^[1]

Factions

Coalitions

In the State Duma at the 3rd convocation, two coalitions functioned at different times as the majority. In both cases, the coalitions were initiated by the "Unity" faction.

The first coalition was formed immediately after the announcement of election results, during the preparations for the first meeting of the new parliament. The "Unity" faction and the Communist Party (the largest in the State Duma) signed a package agreement, according to which they shared the top positions of the Duma and the chairmanships of parliamentary committees. As for "Unity" it was mainly to keep the levers of control of the State Duma from its main competitors at that time - "Fatherland-All Russia". The Communists made an agreement on favorable terms. Later, second coalition was formed, The so-called "Coalition of Four" which included Unity, Fatherland-All Russia, People’s Deputy, and Russia’s Regions, and comprised exactly half of the Duma. The latter two of these groups were not parties per se, but rather deputy groups formed in the Duma.

During the session, the parliament consolidated pro-government forces around

• May 17, 2000: Mikhail Kasyanov was approved as Prime Minister of Russia with 325 votes in favor.^[5]
• May 14, 2003: Ratification of the Russian-American Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty with 294 votes in favor.^[6]

Committees

28 committees operated in the State Duma at the 3rd convocation.

References