Parliament in brief

The parliament consists of 100 deputes elected for 5-year terms. 50 deputies are elected by plurality in single-member constituencies and 50 by system of party-proportional representation. Citizens in the Republic of Tatarstan at least 21 years old are eligible to run for the parliament. Deputies of the State Council are responsible and accountable to their electorate and can be legally voted out of office.

The State Council adopts the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan, makes amendments and alterations to it; has legislative control on the jurisdiction subjects of the Republic of Tatarstan and subjects of joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan; participates in internal politics and international activities of Tatarstan; passes the Tatarstan budget; approves programs of socio-economical development of the republic; sets the organizational procedure for the republican and local authorities, etc.

The right of legislative initiative is vested in the Tatarstan President, deputies of the State Council, its Presidium and committees, Cabinet of Ministers, representative bodies of local authorities, Constitutional Court, Central Election Committee and ombudsman – within their jurisdiction.

Under the Tatarstan’s Constitution and Law “On languages of peoples of the Republic of Tatarstan” all legal acts are subjected to expertise of the special Committee on law identity, adopted and published in Tatar and Russian. Sessions of the State Council are simultaneously interpreted in the two state languages. In its work, the State Council have been guided by the most important for Tatarstan legal documents: 1990 Declaration on state sovereignty of the Republic of Tatarstan, 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The current 100-member State Council was elected on September 8, 2019. Most deputies are members of the United Russia, 6 deputies represent Communist Party of the Russian Federation, 1 represents Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, 1 represents «Just Russia» Party, 1 represents «Rost» Party and 6 deputies are independent. The majority of deputies belong to the 35-65 age group, 2 deputies are younger than 35, and 29 deputies are over 65. Most deputies have university-level education. There are 16 women deputies.

22 deputies are fully employed by the parliament. The rest balance their work in the parliament and main jobs in medicine, culture, education, law, media, science, business, transport and different industrial sectors.

There are 3 deputy groups in the parliament: United Russia, Communist Party of the Russian Federation and “Tatarstan – new century”.

Each deputy belongs to one of the 8 field-specific parliamentary committees: on the state structure and local authorities; on the rule of law and justice; on the budget, taxes and finances; on economics, investment and business; on ecology, nature management and agro-industrial and food policy; on social policy; on culture, academic and national issues; on housing policy and infrastructure development.

The parliament holds regular sessions, as well as offsite and joint meetings of its committees. The 13-member Presidium of the State Council coordinates its work between the sessions.