Wikipedia

Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg

The Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg (Russian: Законода́тельное собра́ние Санкт-Петербу́рга, ЗакС) is the regional parliament of Saint Petersburg, a federal subject (federal city) of Russia. It was established in 1994, succeeding the Leningrad Council of People's Deputies (Lensovet).

Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg

Законодательное собрание
Санкт-Петербурга
7th legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Preceded byLensovet
Leadership
Chairman
Vyacheslav Makarov, United Russia
since 14 December 2011
Structure
Seats50
Political groups
  United Russia (30)[a]
  Communist Party (7)
  SRZP (5)
  LDPR (3)
  New People (3)
  Yabloko (2)
Elections
Mixed
Last election
19 September 2021
Next election
2026
Meeting place

Legislative Assembly Building
Saint Petersburg, St. Isaac Square 6, Mariinsky Palace
Website
www.assembly.spb.ru

It is a permanent body, and the supreme and only governing body in St Petersburg. It is located in the Mariinsky Palace. Its powers and duties are defined in the Charter of Saint Petersburg.

History

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Russian Empire

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Main article: Saint Petersburg City Duma

Saint Petersburg's city duma was established in 1786 as part of Catherine II's reforms on local government.[1]

In 1798, Paul I abolished the city duma and replaced it with the Ratusha (Rathaus) until the city duma was restored in 1802. The city duma was again abolished in 1918 with its functions devolved to the Petrograd Soviet.[1]

Russian Federation

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Initially it was the speaker of the Assembly who served as member of the Federation Council of Russia representing the legislative power body of this federal subject. However, in 2000 the federal legislation changed and the duties were delegated to a separate person to be elected by the regional legislature (not necessarily among its members). From June 13, 2001 until May 18, 2011, Sergey Mironov occupied this position.[citation needed]

According to federal legislation from 2005, the governor of Saint Petersburg (as well as heads of other federal subjects of Russia) was proposed by the President of Russia and approved by the regional legislature. On December 20, 2006, incumbent Valentina Matviyenko was approved as governor.[2][3][4] In 2012, following the passage of a new federal law,[5] which restored direct elections of the heads of federal subjects, the city charter was again amended.[6]

Convocations

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The first three convocations were formed by a single-member district plurality voting system with at least 20% participation required (except for the 1994 elections with their changing participation threshold), two-round for the first and second convocations and single-round for the third one. On March 11, 2007, the fourth elections were held using a party-list proportional representation system with a 7-percent election threshold and no required threshold of participation for the first time according to the new city law accepted by the third convocation of the assembly in 2006[7] and new federal legislation.

  • 1st convocation: March 20–21/October 30/November 20, 1994[8]
  • 2nd convocation: December 6/December 20, 1998
  • 3rd convocation: December 8, 2002
  • 4th convocation: March 11, 2007
  • 5th convocation: December 4, 2011
  • 6th convocation: September 18, 2016
  • 7th convocation: September 2021 – September 2026[9]

Composition

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The Assembly is a permanent body, and the supreme and only governing body in St Petersburg. It consists of fifty seats and is elected for a five-year term. Half of this number run in single-mandate constituencies, while the other half are in a single electoral district, with winners elected in proportion to the number of votes cast. The candidates are nominated by electoral associations.[9]

Structure and governor

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The highest executive body of state power in St Petersburg is the government of St Petersburg, headed by the Governor of St Petersburg, who is the region's highest-ranking official. The Governor is elected for five years by Russian citizens who live in St Petersburg permanently.[9]

As of 2022, the term of office of the incumbent Governor expires in September 2024.[9]

Past compositions

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2011

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Party[10][11] % Seats
United Russia 36.96 20
A Just Russia 23.08 12
Communist Party 13.69 7
Yabloko 12.50 6
Liberal Democratic Party 10.17 5
Patriots of Russia 1.19 0
Union of Right Forces 0.82 0

2016

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Party[12] % Seats
United Russia 41.25 36
Liberal Democratic Party 12.40 3
Communist Party 11.26 3
Party of Growth 10.72 3
Yabloko 9.77 2
A Just Russia 9.10 3
People's Freedom Party 2.11 0
Labor Front 0.78 0
Registered voters/turnout 32.41

2021

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Party[13][14] % Seats
United Russia 33.29 30[b]
Communist Party 17.47 7
A Just Russia — For Truth 12.71 5
New People 10.03 3
Yabloko 9.15 2
Liberal Democratic Party 7.90 3
Party of Growth 4.13 0
Party for Freedom and Justice 2.43 0
Registered voters/turnout 35.52
Controversy
 
Boris Vishnevsky in 2020. He was an MP of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg at the time of the election.

While non-systemic opposition was largely eliminated from the elections, those candidates (mostly of systemic opposition) who were allowed to participate were _targeted by various semi-legal intimidation or confusion techniques. The one includes "doppelganger candidates",[15] where a person of similar look and surname was put on the same ballot in order to confuse voters.[15][16] A remarkable case of Boris Vishnevsky [ru], a candidate of the Yabloko party, who run in the №2 Saint Petersburg circuit with two nearly indistinguishable doppelgängers alongside was widely reported.[c] Both have changed their legal names to "Boris Vishnevsky" shortly before the elections, and returned to their original names shortly after it was finished.[25]

Speakers

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Name Period Notes
1st convocation Yury Kravtsov January 5, 1995 – April 2, 1998, Dismissed ahead of schedule
1st convocation Sergei Mironov April 2, 1998 – 1999 Acting
2nd convocation Victor Novosyolov 1999 Acting, assassinated on October 20, 1999
2nd convoation Sergei Tarasov June 7, 2000 – January 15, 2003
3rd and 4th convocations Vadim Tyulpanov January 15, 2003 – December 13, 2011
5th convocations Vyacheslav Makarov December 14, 2011 – September 28, 2016
6th convocations Vyacheslav Makarov September 28, 2016-Incumbent

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Including one independent candidate
  2. ^ Including one independent candidate supported by United Russia
  3. ^ Both English and Russian speaking media have reported the incident long before election even started.[17][16][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Кружнов, Ю. Н. "Городская дума". Энциклопедия Санкт-Петербурга.
  2. ^ "ЗакС.Ру : статьи : Валентине Матвиенко дали второй срок". Zaks.ru. December 21, 2006. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  3. ^ "Работа для молодой, красивой и умной ~ Валентина Матвиенко пошла на второй срок". Kadis.ru. December 25, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  4. ^ Сергей Павлов. "Яблоко. Публикации. Выбирай себе губернатора?". Yabloko.ru. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  5. ^ "Федеральный закон от 02.05.2012 N 40-ФЗ "О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об общих принципах организации законодательных (представительных) и исполнительных органов государственной власти субъектов Российской Федерации" и Федеральный закон "Об основных гарантиях избирательных прав и права на участие в референдуме граждан Российской Федерации"". garant.ru.
  6. ^ "Saint Petersburg law of 20.06.2012 № 339–59". Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  7. ^ "Выборы - 2007 г. - Закон о выборах депутатов ЗС СПб". Assembly.spb.ru. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  8. ^ "Первые выборы в Законодательное Собрание Санкт-Петербурга". Assembly.spb.ru. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d "City of St Petersburg". Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  10. ^ "Данные о предварительных итогах голосования по единому округу", st-petersburg.vybory.izbirkom.ru
  11. ^ "2011. Выборы в Законодательное собрание Санкт-Петербурга, V созыв". spb-elections.ru.
  12. ^ "Сведения о проводящихся выборах и референдумах", st-petersburg.vybory.izbirkom.ru
  13. ^ "Избирком Петербурга подвел итоги выборов в ЗакС по спискам партий", zaks.ru, September 22, 2021
  14. ^ "Горизбирком Петербурга подвел итоги выборов в ЗакС". kommersant.ru. September 22, 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Spoiled elections The BBC dissects the dirty tactics used to demoralize voters on both wings of Russia's 'systemic' opposition". Meduza. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  16. ^ a b Kramer, Andrew E. (September 17, 2021). "Fake Parties and Cloned Candidates: How the Kremlin 'Manages' Democracy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  17. ^ Russell, Martin (September 15, 2021). "Russia's 2021 elections: Another step on the road to authoritarian rule" (PDF). European Parliamentary Research Service. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  18. ^ "Three near-identical Boris Vishnevskys on St Petersburg election ballot". the Guardian. September 6, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  19. ^ "Doppelganger Dirty Trick In Russian Election Spawns Online Mockery". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  20. ^ Hannon, Elliot (September 9, 2021). "Russian Opposition Candidate Boris Vishnevsky Faces Two Other Boris Vishnevskys on Ballot". Slate Magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  21. ^ "St. Petersburg Election Ballot Features 3 Near-Identical Boris Vishnevskys". The Moscow Times. September 6, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  22. ^ "Kremlin critic decries doppelgangers at St Petersburg election". Reuters. September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  23. ^ ""Яблоко": в районах, где избираются Борис Вишневский и его двойники, частично отсутствует видеонаблюдение". Новая газета (in Russian). September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  24. ^ "Двойники Вишневского на выборах в ЗакС Петербурга сменили не только имена, но и внешность". www.znak.com. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  25. ^ ""Чтобы в какой-то мере пошутить": "двойник" Бориса Вишневского вернул себе настоящее имя после выборов в Петербурге". Новая газета (in Russian). October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
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