3rd State Duma
# 3rd State Duma

The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the 3rd convocation (Russian: Государственная Дума Федерального Собрания Российской Федерации III созыва) is a former convocation of the legislative branch of the State Duma, lower house of the Russian Parliament, elected on 19 December 1999. The 3rd convocation met at the State Duma building in Moscow from January 18, 2000 to December 29, 2003.

## Leadership

Until the election of the Chairman of the State Duma of the meeting, the position was filled by the oldest deputy – 79 year-old of Yegor Ligachyov – according to traditions.

On January 18, 2000, the parliament elected Gennadiy Seleznyov as the Chairman of the State Duma.

## Factions

| Faction | Leader | Seats |
| - | - | - |
| Communist Party of the Russian Federation | Gennady Zuganov | 113 |
| Unity | Boris Gryzlov | 73 |
| Fatherland – All Russia | Yevgeny Primakov (until 2001) | 66 |
| Fatherland – All Russia | Vyacheslav Volodin (since 2001) | 66 |
| Union of Right Forces | Sergey Kiriyenko (until 23 May 2000) | 29 |
| Union of Right Forces | Boris Nemtsov (since 23 May 2000) | 29 |
| Yabloko | Grigory Yavlinsky | 20 |
| Zhirinovsky Bloc | Igor Lebedev | 17 |
| Independents | Independents | 123 |
| Vacant | Vacant | 9 |

## Coalitions

In the State Duma at the 3rd convocation, two coalitions functioned at different times as the majority. In both cases, the coalitions were initiated by the "Unity" faction.

The first coalition was formed immediately after the announcement of election results, during the preparations for the first meeting of the new parliament. The "Unity" faction and the Communist Party (the largest in the State Duma) signed a package agreement, according to which they shared the top positions of the Duma and the chairmanships of parliamentary committees. As for "Unity" it was mainly to keep the levers of control of the State Duma from its main competitors at that time - "Fatherland-All Russia". The Communists made an agreement on favorable terms. Later, second coalition was formed, The so-called "Coalition of Four" which included Unity, Fatherland-All Russia, People’s Deputy, and Russia’s Regions, and comprised exactly half of the Duma. The latter two of these groups were not parties per se, but rather deputy groups formed in the Duma.

During the session, the parliament consolidated pro-government forces around President Vladimir Putin: the merger of public movements "Unity" and "Fatherland" was announced, which led to corresponding changes in the State Duma. In April 2002, the newly formed majority of the State Duma cleaned house and deprived the Communists of the benefits they received at the beginning. They were deprived of the majority of management positions. This caused a crisis within the Communist Party faction - Chairman of the State Duma Gennady Seleznyov, as well as heads of two committees (Svetlana Goryacheva and Nikolai Gubenko) chose to leave the faction, and to keep their positions.

## Major legislation

* May 17, 2000: Mikhail Kasyanov was approved as Prime Minister of Russia with 325 votes in favor.
* May 14, 2003: Ratification of the Russian-American Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty with 294 votes in favor.

## Committees

28 committees operated in the State Duma at the 3rd convocation.

| Committee | Chair | Faction |
| - | - | - |
| Law | Pavel Krasheninnikov | Union of Right Forces |
| State-Building | Anatoly Lukyanov | Communist Party |
| State-Building | Valery Grebennikov | Fatherland – All Russia |
| Labour and Social Policy | Valery Saykin | Communist Party |
| Labour and Social Policy | Andrey Selivanov | Union of Right Forces |
| Budget and Taxes | Alexander Zhukov | Regions of Russia |
| Credit Organizations and Financial Markets | Alexander Shokhin | People's Deputy |
| Economic Policy and Entrepreneurship | Sergey Glazyev | Communist Party |
| Property Issues | Vladimir Pekhtin | Unity |
| Property Issues | Viktor Pleskachevsky | Unity |
| Industry, Construction and High Technology | Yuri Maslyukov | Communist Party |
| Industry, Construction and High Technology | Martin Shakkum | Regions of Russia |
| Energy, Transport and Communications | Vladimir Katrenko | Unity |
| Defence | Andrey Nikolayev | People's Deputy |
| Security | Alexander Gurov | Unity |
| International Affairs | Dmitry Rogozin | People's Deputy |
| CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots | Boris Pastukhov | Fatherland – All Russia |
| CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots | Andrey Kokoshin | Fatherland – All Russia |
| Federation Affairs and Regional Policy | Leonid Ivanchenko | Communist Party |
| Federation Affairs and Regional Policy | Viktor Grishin | Fatherland – All Russia |
| Local Government | Vladimir Mokry | Unity |
| Rules and Organization of the State Duma | Nikolay Loktionov | Unity |
| Rules and Organization of the State Duma | Vasily Volkovsky | Unity |
| Information Policy | Konstantin Vetrov | Liberal Democratic Party |
| Health Protection and Sports | Nikolai Gerasimenko | People's Deputy |
| Education and Science | Ivan Melnikov | Communist Party |
| Education and Science | Alexander Shishlov | Yabloko |
| Women, Family and Children | Svetlana Goryacheva | Communist Party |
| Agrarian Issues | Vladimir Plotnikov | Agroindustrial Group |
| Agrarian Issues | Gennady Kulik | Fatherland – All Russia |
| Natural Resources and Land Use | Alexander Belyakov | Unity |
| Ecology | Vladimir Grachev | Unity |
| Public Associations and Religious Organizations | Viktor Zorkaltsev | Communist Party |
| Nationalities | Alexander Tkachov | Agroindustrial Group |
| Nationalities | Valentin Nikitin | Agroindustrial Group |
| Culture and Tourism | Nikolai Gubenko | Communist Party |
| North and Far East Issues | Valentina Pivnenko | People's Deputy |
| Veterans Affairs | Viktor Kulikov | Fatherland – All Russia |
