On Tuesday, January 19, the State Duma began work within the framework of the spring session.

During the first plenary session, the main directions in the work of the lower house of parliament were announced.

According to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, the most important priority is the implementation of the President's message to the Federal Assembly, which forms the agenda not only for the current year, but also for the future.

"The plan of legislative support for the implementation of the last year's message has been fulfilled by 85%, 34 points out of 40 have been implemented," Volodin said.

He added that a total of 1226 bills are under consideration by the deputies, of which 266 have already passed the first reading.

They relate to support for citizens and business during a pandemic, the development of economic sectors, strengthening the social sphere and improving the quality of life of people.

In the course of his speech, Viacheslav Volodin recalled the upcoming State Duma elections in September, urging "not to allow foreign interference in the election campaign."

“It is important for us that they are held openly, competitively and legitimately, in strict accordance with national legislation <...> Based on the past elections and the current situation, we understand that they will interfere, as before.

And the US and its NATO allies are at the head of these processes, ”said the speaker of the lower house of parliament.

According to him, it is necessary to protect the electoral rights of Russians from "encroachments on the part of foreign states", no matter how they "would like to push their representatives into our government bodies."

He emphasized that the party-political system of the Russian Federation has been demonstrating its effectiveness for 20 years, which is why he does not like it abroad.

“In the State Duma, Russian citizens are represented by four political factions, which over the past year, despite differences in party ideology, together passed laws to help people during a pandemic.

What parties, how many there will be in the next State Duma, will be decided by the citizens of our country, who have the right to elect and be elected, ”Volodin added.

He stressed that if earlier US interference in elections in other countries, including Russia, was covered by the alleged introduction of high standards of democracy, then "today it has become obvious to everyone that the United States of America itself does not have these standards."

The speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament called the US electoral system "archaic", pointing out that "it is beyond the control of society."

“Voting by mail does not stand up to scrutiny.

The fan mailing of ballots to voters is uncontrollable; it is impossible to check who and when voted on these ballots, ”Volodin said.

“We will not allow those who have led their party-political system to degradation, the result of which was an encroachment on the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, to speak with us in a mentoring tone.”

  • Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin

  • RIA News

  • © Ilya Pitalev

Freedom of speech in the USA

In addition, Viacheslav Volodin touched upon a number of events that took place in the United States after the presidential elections.

According to him, in this pre-election presidential race, the clashing of the Americans among themselves has acquired "an extremely sharp and dangerous character."

“We have always been against this and believe that it is unacceptable.

The power struggle that unfolded between the two leading parties in the United States led to the storming of parliament and human casualties.

We have always, and today I want to emphasize this, opposed violent, unconstitutional actions, and the United States of America, on the contrary, encouraged and supported these processes in many countries of the world, interfering in their sovereign affairs, ”he said.

Volodin recalled that the United States calls the participants in unauthorized actions - in Europe, the post-Soviet space, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America - fighters for freedom and democracy.

However, when similar events took place in Washington, they were called "domestic terrorists."

“These are the real political prisoners.

Let's call a spade a spade.

Washington will have to admit: either this is a policy of double standards, or they have suffered for their political views, ”the State Duma speaker emphasized.

In addition, he commented on the blocking of accounts in social networks of the still incumbent President Donald Trump, stated that "the country that teaches the standards of democracy to the whole world has crossed them out itself."

“The incumbent president, for whom nearly 75 million Americans have voted, his supporters have been deprived of a fundamental right - freedom of speech.

This decision is backed by political opponents of the outgoing president, and this is nothing more than a direct encroachment on the fundamental rights and freedoms of US citizens, a violation by the United States of America of its assumed, I emphasize, international obligations in the field of exchange and access to information, ”Volodin said. ...

According to him, for Russia, the current situation is important in order to prevent "such lawlessness" on the part of American social networks from happening on the territory of the Russian Federation.

“American information platforms and IT companies have a global international, and in fact - a monopoly character.

If they behave so arrogantly and unceremoniously in their own country, how will they behave and will behave towards other countries?

We need to do everything so that international technology companies in Russia work only within the framework of our national legislation, ”explained the Chairman of the State Duma.

Volodin instructed the State Duma Committee on International Affairs to prepare an appeal to international organizations with a proposal to analyze the current situation with freedom of speech in the United States and work out solutions to prevent this from happening in the future.

“Stop taking the ostrich pose as if nothing is happening.

We need to initiate this work and try to do everything so that international organizations finally wake up from hibernation, "said the speaker of the lower house of parliament.

The situation with Navalny

Alexei Navalny is a “pawn in someone else's big game”, which is “by no means friendly and dangerous” for Russia.

This was stated by Viacheslav Volodin.

According to him, the blogger is "financed by foreign states" and is used by Western intelligence services to weaken Russia.

“If he has a head on his shoulders, let him deal with his own criminal cases.

He has many lawyers, they are highly paid.

Let them explain where they violated what, defend.

But such is not the place in politics, ”he explained.

Regarding the latest statements from the West regarding the detention of Navalny, Volodin urged the European Union to start with itself and stop “shooting people with rubber bullets, poisoning them with gas, watering them in winter,” stressing that all this “resembles the torture of the Second World War”.

“Think about it: if our special services brought an American to the airport, put him on a plane and sent him to Washington, where would he be after he flew there?”

- asked the chairman of the State Duma.

The Navalny incident also touched upon the leaders of political factions in their speeches.

Thus, the head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov, called the blogger "a messenger from Berlin" and "Gapon number two" who will set fire to the internal situation.

“This figure has been cheated for many years, in fact, knowing full well that there is nothing behind him except the organization of the Russian Maidan,” he said.

In turn, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky called Navalny "the leader of the opposition of idiots, sick people and adventurers," who has been pursuing an anti-state policy for many years.

“The man is a stranger to us.

He was thrown out like a lousy kitten, he was lying there at his feet all autumn, begging the special services of the West to help him stay in the West.

Like Khodorkovsky, Berezovsky and all the other trash, which has three options (I said about this 20 years ago): prison, emigration or grave.

So they are already approximately distributed, ”he said.

According to him, Navalny should be "sent far, far away from Moscow, to the north, to where the tundra is, where birds freeze on the fly and fall to the ground."