MOSCOW, April 19 (AVN) - The State Duma lower house of parliament approved unanimously on Thursday the constitutional bill "Concerning Martial Law" on the first reading.
The bill was submitted to the house by President Vladimir Putin. An alternative bill on martial law was drafted by a group of deputies of the Union of Right-wing Forces (SPS) and also submitted to Duma. The presidential bill was introduced by Putin's representative in the house Alexander Kotenkov, that of the SPS by lawmaker Sergei Yushenkov.
Prior to the bills' discussion Yushenkov announced that the lawmakers withdrew their bill. According to him, the deputies see no principal disagreements between the two variants and believe that the presidential bill should be adopted as basis. Necessary amendments can be made to it during the discussion, Yushenkov noted.
Yushenkov was supported by Andrei Nikolayev, chairman of the Duma defence committee, who said the working group that was to be set up to prepare the bill for the second reading would undoubtedly take into consideration the best elements of the SPS variant.
Approval of the bill will help fill the legislative gap in such an important aspect of state security maintenance, Nikolayev stressed.