© Dmitry Astakhov / Reuters
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the United Russia Party, speaks at the joint meeting of the party's supreme council and general council.
The majority caucus United Russia party has announced plans to launch a special council that would filter populist and "fake" initiatives as well as bills that replicate existing laws.
Raisa Karmazina - the curator of the group of MPs that United Russia plans to use to form the council - told the
Izvestia daily that
the new body would look into any legislative proposal and decide if it's really necessary, what its consequences would be, and whether Russian legislation already contains something similar. "The experts' task will be not just to approve or reject the bills, they will brief the lawmakers about existing norms," Karmazina said.
MP Nikolai Pankov, who is poised to head the 'zero reading' council within the United Russia caucus, told Izvestia that the decision to launch the body had been made because the composition of the State Duma had changed significantly.
"Over 60 percent of MPs sitting in the committee that I head were elected for the first time - both on our party lists and in single-candidate constituencies. However, they demonstrate the desire to participate in lawmaking activities, and to help them we will discuss all new initiatives with invited experts," he said.
Pankov emphasized that
experts would pay special attention to bills drafted by MPs with no previous Duma experience.
Comment: This speaks volumes about the 'values' of American society: rapists and pedophiles are routinely protected by the system while jails are full of black and poor people arrested for minor violations, such as growing a few marijuana plants.