Congress of People's Deputies of Russia - Brief History

Brief History

  • 27 October 1989 – Constitution of the RSFSR is modified (amended), Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR is created.
  • 4 March 1990 – Nationwide election determines the composition of the Congress.
  • 16 May 1990 – Congress starts the first session (opening of the I Congress of People's Deputies).
  • 29 May 1990 – Boris Yeltsin is elected as Chairman of the Presidium by a narrow majority (50.52%)
  • 12 June 1990 – The Congress passes the declaration of sovereignty of Russia. This initiates the struggle for power in Moscow between the Russian and the Union governments.
  • 1 December 1990 - The Democratic Russia bloc suffers its first split over the question of committing Soviet troops in the UN-mandated war against Iraq. The supporters of Soviet involvement are overruled by the left wing, and resolution is passed against commitment of Soviet forces.
  • 17 March 1991 – A nationwide referendum introduces the post of President of RSFSR. Constitution was subsequently amended by Congress on 24 May 1991 to provide fundamental legal framework for the Russian presidency.
  • 12 June 1991 – Yeltsin is elected President of RSFSR with 57% votes. On 10 July 1991 he is sworn into office at Fifth Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian SFSR.
  • 17 July 1991 – The Congress fails to elect the new Chairman, consequently Vice-Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov becomes the acting Chairman of the Presidium.
  • 29 October 1991 – Ruslan Khasbulatov is elected as Chairman with 52.79% votes.
  • 1 November 1991 – The Congress delegates extraordinary powers to President Yeltsin, expiring in 13 months.
  • 10 November 1991 - The deputies fail to pass a resolution declaring martial law in Chechen-Ingush ASSR, thus prolonging the Chechen conflict.
  • 18 April 1992 - Sixth Congress approved overall course of ongoing constitutional reform and basic provisions of Constitutional Commission-backed draft Constitution of the Russian Federation.
  • 21 April 1992 - the Congress made gradual revision of then-current Constitution of 1978, which had reflected some of decisions, alreadly passed by the Russian Supreme Soviet, such as:
    • November 1991 adotion of the Declaration of Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen - completely new rights & duties provisions was written in Chapter II of the 1978 Constitution
    • 12 December 1991 independence of RSFSR from USSR (but no explicit decision for ratification of Belavezha Accords was adopted; moreover, USSR Constitution & laws formally remains binding per art. 4 of the 1978 Russian Constitution, until abrogation of latter in December 1993)
    • 25 December 1991 – Renaming of the Russian SFSR to Russian Federation - old name of the Republic was written out of Constitution (replaced by the "Russian Federation - Russia" in title, preamble, art. 1 and by the "Russian Federation" elsewhere in the Constitution).
  • 10 December 1992 – First major clash between the President and the Congress takes place over the Congressional refusal to approve Yegor Gaidar as the Head of Government and to prolong the President’s extraordinary powers. A compromise is achieved and a referendum is scheduled to be held on March 12, 1993.
  • 10 March 1993 – An extraordinary session of the Congress cancels the referendum and nullifies the extraordinary powers granted to the president in November 1991.
  • 20 March 1993 – The president declares a “special regime”, unilaterally schedules a referendum of confidence, and refuses to obey the Congress until the referendum is held.
  • 28 March 1993 – 617 out of 1033 deputies in the Congress vote to impeach Yeltsin. This is 60%, lower than the 2/3 required for a successful impeachment.
  • 29 March 1993 – The Congress schedules a referendum on approval of president Yeltsin’s policies (especially economic policies) and early presidential and legislative elections.
  • 23 April 1993 – In the nationwide referendum the population expresses support for Yeltsin and his policies.
  • 5 June 1993 – The Constitutional Convention begins. The Congress delegates applaud Khasbulatov, while the presidential security grab one deputy and pull him out, pushing aside the Prosecutor General.
  • 18 September 1993 – The president gathers representatives of executive and legislative power of the federal subjects, but they refuse his suggestion to proclaim a new supreme governing body – the Federal Assembly.
  • 21 September 1993 – Presidential decree № 1400 declares the Congress to be dissolved and schedules elections for the Federal Assembly. This move infringes the "Law on the President" (passed at the Fourth R.S.F.S.R. Congress of People's Deputies on May 24, 1991), and leads to the Congress dismissing president Yeltsin and the power formally passes to Vice-President Alexander Rutskoy.
  • 22 September 1993 – Congress approves Rutskoy as the new Head of State and designates a new cabinet. Dual power leads to street fighting in Moscow.
  • 4 October 1993 – Pro-presidential forces storm the White House and dissolve the Congress.

Read more about this topic:  Congress Of People's Deputies Of Russia

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    “To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
    —Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)

    “... in America ... children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
    —Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)