The Russian State Duma has started its autumn session on Tuesday. There were 445 out of 450 deputies present, Interfax reports.
Speaker Boris Gryzlov said that the autumn session will be
high-profile and labor-intensive.
Gryzlov said that the session will end in late December, and they plan
to view over 500 bills, 100 of them priority.
The session will also open the new format of work. After Dmitry
Medvedev's criticism they took up 'disciplinary' amendments to the
order of State Duma, aimed against deputies skipping sessions.
There will now be 3 plenary sessions per week - on Tuesdays,
Wednesdays and Fridays. The decisions on bills will be made at 17.00.
All deputies will have to be present. The number of plenary weeks was
reduced from 3 to 2.
