MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The Union of Right-wing Forces (SPS) faction in the State Duma lower house of parliament will vote against the government bill on alternative service on Wednesday, deputy head of the faction Alexander Barannikov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The SPS faction is opposed to the bill submitted by the government and will support an alternative variant drafted by lawmakers, including those of the SPS, Barannikov said.
At the same time, the Duma legislation committee led by SPS member Pavel Krasheninnikov recommended that the house adopted the government bill as a basis.
Speaking about this decision, Barannikov said that if the committee had recommended adopting the lawmakers' bill as a basis, "it could have been rejected by the Duma majority on formal grounds, i.e. because of lacking a feasibility study made by the government."
The bills offered by the government and lawmakers differ in four key provisions. The government bill says the term of alternative service is four years, the place of service is remote from the place of residence and a person can go for alternative service if he opts for it. The bill drafted by lawmakers says the term of alternative service is three years, the place of service is near the place of residence and a person can go for alternative service if he is allowed to do so. In addition, the government bill allows establishment of alternative civil service on the territory of military units, while the bill drafted by lawmakers rules it out.