Congress of Soviets of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

The Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR (Russian: Съезд Советов РСФСР), also known as Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR and later Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation was the supreme governing body in Russian SFSR and Russian Federation from 16 May, 1990 to 21 September, 1993. It was elected on 4 March, 1990 for a period of five years, but dissolved by presidential decree during the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. The Congress was responsible for some of the most important events in the History of Russia during this period, such as declaration of independence of Russia from the USSR, the rise of Boris Yeltsin, and economic reforms.

Main functions

The Congress had the power to pass laws by majority, which must then be signed by the President (with no right to veto until July 1991). The Congress had the power to pass the Constitution and make constitutional changes, approve the Heads of Government and the leaders of highest public offices, select the members of the committee of constitutional supervision (judges of Constitutional Court), declare referendums, and impeach the president.

Composition

The Congress officially consisted of 1068 deputies, most of whom were elected in the general election on 4 March, 1990, but the actual size varied due to several reelections and structural changes.900 deputies were elected from the territorial regions, proportional to population;168 more from the national-territorial regions, 64 from the 16 Autonomous Republic (4 from each), 10 from the 5 autonomous regions (2 from each), 10 from the 10 autonomous area (1 from each), 84 from krais, oblasts, and the cities of Moscow and Leningrad.

A total of 1,059 deputies were elected by the beginning of the first session of the Congress on 16 May, 1990.1037 deputies were present on 21 September, 1993; 938 on 4 October, 1993.

Two thirds of the deputies had to be present for the Congress to meet the quorum.

essions

Constitutionally the Congress was required to meet every year, but actually due to the turbulent events during these years it met from 2 to 3 times a year. The Congress gathered in the White House and held a total of ten sessions. Its last session was held after the presidential dissolution degree, and was interrupted by armed attack on the White House by forces loyal to the president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin.

* First: 16 May, 1990 – 22 June, 1990
* Second (extraordinary): 27 November, 1990 – 15 December, 1990
* Third (extraordinary): 28 March, 1991 – 5 April, 1991
* Fourth: 21 May, 1991 – 25 May, 1991
* Fifth (extraordinary): 10 July, 1991 – 17 July, 1991; 28 October, 1991 – 2 November, 1991
* Sixth: 6 April, 1992 – 21 April, 1992
* Seventh: 1 December, 1992 – 14 December, 1992
* Eight (extraordinary): 10 March, 1993 – 13 March, 1993
* Ninth (extraordinary): 26 March, 1993 – 29 March, 1993
* Tenth (emergency): 23 September, 1993 – 4 October, 1993

upreme Soviet

The Supreme Soviet of RSFSR later Supreme Soviet of Russian Federation was a legislative body elected by the Congress to govern between the Congressional sessions.It consisted of 252 deputies, divided into the Congress of the Republic (126 deputies) elected proportionately to the population size, and another 126 deputies from the Council of Nationalities, representing the federal subjects of Russia.

Functions

The Supreme Soviet was entrusted with the power to pass laws, ratify treaties, assign cabinet members (until 1991) and judges, declare amnesty, and approve presidential decrees. The laws passed by Supreme Soviet were to be signed by the Chairman of the Presidium with no right to veto until July 10th 1991. Afterwards the president gained the right to a delaying veto, which could be bypassed by the Supreme Soviet through a simple majority vote. During its sessions the Supreme Soviet passed a total of 333 federal laws.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet

The Chairman of the Supreme Soviet was elected by the Congress. He was the Head of State in Russian SFSR until the creation of the post of President of Russia on 10 July, 1990. He signed treaties (without the right to veto), nominated candidates for the Head of Government, conducted diplomacy and signed international agreements.From 10 July, the Chairman of the Presidium was demoted to the head of the legislative branch of government, a parliamentary speaker. He was also the fourth in line of succession to the Presidency, after the Vice President and the President of the Council of Ministers.

Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Russian SFSR:
* 29 May, 1990 to 10 July, 1990 – Boris Yeltsin
* 10 July, 1990 to 29 October, 1990 – Ruslan Khasbulatov (acting)
* 29 October, 1990 to 4 October, 1993 – Ruslan Khasbulatov

Boris Yeltsin ran for the post of Chairman as a CPSU member twice unsuccessfully, gaining 497 and 503 votes respectively, out of 531 required to be elected. The CPSU then nominated a more moderate candidate, the President of the Council of Ministers, Alexander Vlasov. President of USSR Mikhail Gorbachev publicly spoke out against Yeltsin at the Congress session. After that, Yeltsin ran again on 29 May 1990 and gained 535 votes (50.52%), consequently becoming the leader of Russian SFSR.

On 17 March, 1991 a national referendum was held in Russia in which 54% voted for the introduction of the post of President of RSFSR. On 12 June, 1991, Boris Yeltsin won the election with 57% and became the first president. After he took office on 10 July, six election rounds in the Congress were unable to elect a new Chairman of the Presidium. On October 29, Ruslan Khasbulatov was elected with 559 votes (52.79%).

Brief history

* 29 October, 1990 – Constitution of RSFSR is modified, Congress of Soviets of RSFSR is created.
* 4 March, 1990 – Nationwide election determines the composition of the Congress.
* 16 May, 1990 – Congress holds the first session.
* 29 May, 1990 – Boris Yeltsin is elected as Chairman of the Presidium by a narrow majority (50.52%)
* 12 June, 1990 – The Congress passes the declaration of sovereignty of Russia. This initiates the struggle for power in Moscow between the Russian and the Union governments.
* 1 December, 1990 - The Democratic Russia bloc suffers its first split over the question of committing Soviet troops in the UN-mandated war against Iraq. The supporters of Soviet involvement are overruled by the left wing, and resolution is passed against commitment of Soviet forces.
* 17 March, 1991 – A nationwide referendum introduces the post of President of RSFSR.
* 12 June, 1991 – Yeltsin is elected President of RSFSR with 57% votes.
* 10 July, 1991 – Yeltsin is sworn into office.
* 17 July, 1991 – The Congress fails to elect the new Chairman, consequently Vice-Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov becomes the acting Chairman of the Presidium.
* 29 October, 1991 – Ruslan Khasbulatov is elected as Chairman with 52.79% votes.
* 1 November, 1991 – The Congress delegates extraordinary powers to President Yeltsin, expiring in 13 months.
* 12 December, 1991 – Congress declares independence of RSFSR from USSR.
* 25 December, 1991 – Congress renames RSFSR to Russian Federation.
* 10 December, 1992 – First major clash between the President and the Congress takes place over the Congressional refusal to approve Yegor Gaidar as the Head of Government and to prolong the President’s extraordinary powers. A compromise is achieved and a referendum is scheduled to be held on March 12th 1993.
* 10 March, 1993 – An extraordinary session of the Congress cancels the referendum and nullifies the extraordinary powers granted to the president in November 1991.
* 20 March, 1993 – The president declares a “special regime”, unilaterally schedules a referendum of confidence, and refuses to obey the Congress until the referendum is held.
* 28 March, 1993 – 617 out of 1033 deputies in the Congress vote to impeach Yeltsin. This is 60%, lower than the 2/3 required for a successful impeachment.
* 29 March, 1993 – The Congress schedules a referendum on approval of president Yeltsin’s policies (especially economic policies) and early presidential and legislative elections.
* 23 April, 1993 – In the nationwide referendum the population expresses support for Yeltsin and his policies.
* 5 June, 1993 – The Constitutional Convention begins. The Congress delegates applaud Khasbulatov, while the presidential security grab one deputy and pull him out, pushing aside the Prosecutor General.
* 18 September, 1993 – The president gathers representatives of executive and legislative power of the federal subjects, but they refuse his suggestion to proclaim a new supreme governing body – the Federal Assembly.
* 21 September, 1993 – Presidential decree #1400 declares the Congress to be dissolved and schedules elections for the Federal Assembly. This move is unconstitutional, and leads to the Congress dismissing president Yeltsin and the power formally passes to Vice-President Alexander Rutskoy.
* 22 September, 1993 – Congress approves Rutskoy as the new Head of State and designates a new cabinet. Dual power leads to street fighting in Moscow.
* 4 October, 1993 – Pro-presidential forces storm the White House and dissolve the Congress.
* 12 December, 1993 – A new constitution is passed in a referendum (58.4% in favor). Federal Assembly is elected. Nationalist LDPR takes the plurality of the votes.
* 23 February, 1994 – Federal Assembly closes investigation of 1993 “coup” and declares amnesty.
* 26 February, 1994 – Prosecutor General agrees to amnesty despite Yeltsin’s protests.
* 9 March, 1994 – Presidential administration writes a “black list” of 151 former deputies who defended the Congress. These deputies were deprived of their social privileges, until they were restored on 22 April by a presidential decree.
* 4 March, 1995 – the most resistant of the former Congressmen celebrated the official end of their delegated powers.

Political parties

During the first session of the Congress, 86% were card-carrying members of the CPSU. This number declined steadily as more people resigned from the party, however new major parties were not quick enough to form, leaving a large percentage of the Congress non-partisan. CPSU was banned by president Yeltsin in November 1991 due to the attempted August Coup. The party collapsed completely during the collapse of Soviet Union, and in Russia it was replaced by CPRF.

Deputy fractions and blocs

During the first session of the Congress, 24 deputy fractions were registered, numbering 50 to 355 deputies. Dual membership was allowed, so the fraction membership numbered 200% of the entire Congress. Two major blocs quickly formed in opposition to each other – the Communist Bloc, and the Democratic Russia Bloc. The “Democratic Russia” and its allies were initially in the majority, which allowed Yeltsin to be elected as the Chairman of the Presidium. During the fifth session, dual membership in fractions was outlawed, “one deputy – one fraction” law was passed. However, dual membership still remained an issue and in April 1992 there were 30 deputies with membership in several fractions.

By 1993, a total of 14 fractions remained and 200-210 deputies still haven't declared membership in any fractions. The Democratic Russia Bloc collapsed, and resulted in formation of two new blocs – “Reform Coalition” and “Democratic Centre”. A new bloc called “Russian Unity” formed by the conservative communists and their sympathizers and centre-left “Creative Forces” bloc was formed by the moderate left. Together they constituted majority and voiced opposition to Yeltsin and many of his policies. However, as of March 1993, they still lacked supermajority required for impeachment.

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