Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg

Regional parliament of Saint Petersburg, Russia

"Lensovet" redirects here. For the theatre, see Lensovet Theatre.

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|

Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg

Законодательное собрание Санкт-Петербурга

7th legislature
Type
Type|

Unicameral

Leadership

Chairman

Vyacheslav Makarov, United Russia
since 14 December 2011

Structure
Seats| 50

Political groups

|  United Russia (30)[a]
CPRF (7)
SRZP (5)
LDPR (3)
New People (3)
Yabloko (2)
Elections

Voting system

| 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

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 Deputies (Lensovet).

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[edit]

### Russian Empire[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

## Past compositions[edit]

### 2011[edit]

Party[10][11] | %  | Seats

|
|

| United Russia | 36.96 | 20
| A Just Russia | 23.08 | 12
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | 13.69 | 7
| Yabloko | 12.50 | 6
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | 10.17 | 5
| Patriots of Russia | 1.19 | 0
| Union of Right Forces | 0.82 | 0

### 2016[edit]

Party[12] | %  | Seats

|
|

| United Russia | 41.25 | 36
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | 12.40 | 3
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | 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
| Russian Labour Front | 0.78 | 0
Registered voters/turnout | 32.41 |

### 2021[edit]

Party[13][14] | %  | Seats

|
|

| United Russia | 33.29 | 30[b]
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | 17.47 | 7
| A Just Russia — For Truth | 12.71 | 5
| New People | 10.03 | 3
| Yabloko | 9.15 | 2
| Liberal Democratic Party of Russia | 7.90 | 3
| Party of Growth | 4.13 | 0
| Russian Party of Freedom and Justice | 2.43 | 0
Registered voters/turnout | 35.52 |

Controversy
Boris Vishnevskys in 2018. 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 Vishnevskys [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[edit]

| Name  | Period  | Notes

|
|
|

1st convocation | Yury Kravtsov | January 5, 1995 – April 2, 1998,  | Dismissed ahead of schedule
1st convocation | Sergey Mironov | April 2, 1998 – 1999  | Acting
2nd convocation | Viktor Novosyolov | 1999  | Acting, assassinated on October 20, 1999
2nd convoation | Sergey 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[edit]

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[edit]

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.

## External links[edit]

Media related to Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg at Wikimedia Commons

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