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Duma: the Russian parliament worked
overtime earlier
this year, passing a flurry of reform
measures |
President Vladimir Putin must be feeling pleased with
himself. By the time the Duma broke up for its summer holidays this
year more than 140 laws touching on virtually every aspect of
day-to-day life had whizzed through.
In his April state-of-the-nation speech, Putin said that he wanted
to push through reform of the legal system, cut red tape and
liberalize land ownership. All these goals have been at least
partly met and many more as well, dealing with improving the
efficiency and accountability of government. Some outdated Soviet
laws, such as the labour code which has been untouched since the
fall of the iron curtain, have been ditched.
"The pace of economic reform seems to be right, and certainly can
be accelerated in some areas," says Ariel Cohen, research fellow
with the Heritage Foundation in Washington....
