My Story as the Member of State Duma
Author: Josephine Keng
My name is Aleksandr Gazeta, the Governor of Volgograd. Today is my first day in office and I feel excited and nervous.
Growing up in a politically active family, I was raised to become a member of the State Duma one day like my grandfather did. My father was the chairman of the Federation Council and my uncles were officers in regional governments. I grew up socializing with different people, friends and enemies.
To be honest, I became the Governor of Volgograd because my family shares a good relationship with the President. Therefore, I was directly appointed by him. Furthermore, my family was well-known in the United Russia party since my great grandfather was one of the founding members. As a result, my whole family is aligned to the United Russia party.
Regardless of my loyalty towards the party, I see corruption in the government. Ironically, my appointment was one of them too. As a fresh and inexperienced young man, there was no way for me to become the governor of Volgograd. However, I had relationships, and this is my biggest advantages in the Russia political game. No relationships meant no game.
Growing up in a politically active family, I was raised to become a member of the State Duma one day like my grandfather did. My father was the chairman of the Federation Council and my uncles were officers in regional governments. I grew up socializing with different people, friends and enemies.
To be honest, I became the Governor of Volgograd because my family shares a good relationship with the President. Therefore, I was directly appointed by him. Furthermore, my family was well-known in the United Russia party since my great grandfather was one of the founding members. As a result, my whole family is aligned to the United Russia party.
Regardless of my loyalty towards the party, I see corruption in the government. Ironically, my appointment was one of them too. As a fresh and inexperienced young man, there was no way for me to become the governor of Volgograd. However, I had relationships, and this is my biggest advantages in the Russia political game. No relationships meant no game.
After becoming the governor of Volgograd, my next step was becoming the Governor of Volgograd oblast. The position was also directly appointed by the President, so I did not face any difficulties since the President would always favor his own party. However, I knew this was not what I wanted. Being a part of the government here was fully restricted and all of the decisions were still made by the central government. My reason to be in this position is to learn more about the country and the people, to become more experienced.
In Russia, a State Duma deputy cannot hold office in any other representative body of state power or bodies of local self-government. Therefore, after my five year term as the Governor, I quit the position.
After quitting my position as the governor of Volgograd oblast, my next step was to become the State Duma. As I mentioned before, my family has great influence in the party, therefore, I was on the nominee list of State Duma in the party. Being one of the members on the United Russia was a guarantee of election since the people also favored us.
As expected, our party won 52 percent of the popular vote, a great victory. Therefore, we had 234 seats according to the proportional representation. As one of the top candidates inside the party, I became the State Duma.
Becoming the State Duma has been something planned throughout my life. I knew I was going to make it, but the moment was still unbelievable when I heard all those congratulations from my peers and family. People were looking at me with approval and respect and I looked back at them with appreciation. This result was no only a personal accomplishment but also an approval of the whole party.
My job as a member of the State Duma was interesting. I was in charge of consenting to the appointment of the Prime Minister, hearing annual reports from the Government, deciding the issue of confidence in the Government, appointing and dismissing the Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, the Chairman and half of the auditors of the Accounts Chamber, and the Commissioner for Human rights.
In Russia, a State Duma deputy cannot hold office in any other representative body of state power or bodies of local self-government. Therefore, after my five year term as the Governor, I quit the position.
After quitting my position as the governor of Volgograd oblast, my next step was to become the State Duma. As I mentioned before, my family has great influence in the party, therefore, I was on the nominee list of State Duma in the party. Being one of the members on the United Russia was a guarantee of election since the people also favored us.
As expected, our party won 52 percent of the popular vote, a great victory. Therefore, we had 234 seats according to the proportional representation. As one of the top candidates inside the party, I became the State Duma.
Becoming the State Duma has been something planned throughout my life. I knew I was going to make it, but the moment was still unbelievable when I heard all those congratulations from my peers and family. People were looking at me with approval and respect and I looked back at them with appreciation. This result was no only a personal accomplishment but also an approval of the whole party.
My job as a member of the State Duma was interesting. I was in charge of consenting to the appointment of the Prime Minister, hearing annual reports from the Government, deciding the issue of confidence in the Government, appointing and dismissing the Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, the Chairman and half of the auditors of the Accounts Chamber, and the Commissioner for Human rights.