MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Russia’s current State Duma, or lower parliament house, has passed 354 law since the September 2016 elections, Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin told Russia’s TV Channel One on Sunday.
"Since the beginning of the work of the State Duma [of the seventh convocation], we have passed 354 laws. We have one more week before summer vacations, so this number will increase. However, our predecessors managed to pass even more laws over the same time span, say in 2016. But it’s quality rather than quantity what matters," he said.
According to the speaker, State Duma’s agenda was the reflection of public agenda. "There was a request for responsible authorities and responsible authorities, especially representative, legislative authorities, must in the first hand be able to hear, to defend interests and represent people in decision making," he noted.
The State Duma of the seventh convocation was elected on September 18, 2016 for a term of five years. Russia’s ruling party United Russia won a constitutional majority of 343 seats in the 450-seat legislature. Three more parties are also represented in the lower house, namely the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), with 42 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) with 39 seats, and A Just Russia with 23 seats.
The Duma’s spring session began on January 9 to be closed on July 30, 2017.
The previous State Duma passed 202 laws over the autumn 2015 session, and 384 laws - over the spring 2016 session. Over its first session in the autumn 2016, the seventh State Duma passed 142 laws.