The eighth State Duma has officially kicked off, with its delegates ushering in their first plenary session.
Valentina Tereshkova, the first female cosmonaut and legislator from the United Russia party, opened the event. "Esteemed State Duma delegates, distinguished guests, I declare the first session of the eighth State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation now open," she said. Afterwards, the lawmakers stood and the Russian anthem played.
According to protocol, the first plenary session of any new State Duma is opened by the oldest delegate. In the eighth Duma, this would be Vladimir Resin who formerly served as deputy mayor of Moscow and is a member of United Russia. However, earlier it was reported that he offered Tereshkova who is a year younger than him to open the session. The presidium traditionally consisted of the oldest delegates from each party that made it to the State Duma.
According to the State Duma election results, United Russia received 324 mandates, the Communist Party - 57 mandates, Just Russia - Patriots - For Truth - 27 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) 21 seats and New People - 13 seats.
The eighth State Duma also includes one representative of the Party of Growth, one from the Rodina Party, one delegate representing the Civic Platform and five unaffiliated delegates who will join various Duma factions.
