A new video has revealed that most Russian MPs cannot even be bothered to go through the motions of democracy but prefer to bunk off and let the few MPs who do turn up vote in their stead. The footage, shot last week in Russia's Duma, the 450-member lower house of parliament, showed three MPs frantically running from empty seat to seat in order to vote for fellow deputies who were playing truant after lunch.
The vote, which made it illegal for motorists to have any alcohol in their blood, was passed by a crushing 449 votes even though there were only 88 MPs, or just over one fifth of the chamber, present. Western critics say the parliament is little more than a puppet chamber that does the Kremlin's bidding. But Kremlin-backed politicians insist it is a serious institution and on Wednesday rushed to condemn the incident as "shameful" while conceding, rather oddly, that such practices were a regular occurrence.
"You cannot call a situation where MPs run all round the chamber pushing buttons for absent colleagues anything other than a disgrace," said Sergei Mironov, leader of the Kremlin-friendly Just Russia party.
"Usually, voting in parliament takes place at the end of a session when the cameras have left and the journalists are not in the chamber." This time was different though and a cameraman from Russian TV channel Ren TV caught the farce on camera in a video. One unidentified MP was caught voting nine times. Critics said the abysmal turnout technically made the vote illegal since the rules of parliament itself stipulated that a majority of MPs needed to be present for its activities to be legitimate.
9 comments:
It's the same everywhere!
They vote for their party.
indeed (from belgium)
(from France)
from Portugal...
but the weirdest thing is : WE do elect these people- and each year or each election (anywhere) in the world : a new low is reached
:-/
Obviously the "traffic cameras" need to be turned away from driven intersections and inward, to these hallowed chambers. THIS is the raelity TV / Survivor Island show that we should be keeping a keen eye on.
<span>Obviously the "traffic cameras" need to be turned away from driven intersections and inward, to these hallowed chambers. THIS is the reality TV / Survivor Island show that we should be keeping a keen eye on.</span>
It's still cheating. Isn't pushing that button the single most important thing the people are paying them to do?
If this be the case in all those democratically governed countries, perhaps we see the actual failing and end of the democratic era...?
Perhaps we see that the people do not care anymore and that they are just as happy wth any dictator instead of an elected parliament that represents them?
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