At the session of the Irkutsk Regional Legislative Assembly, the main issue was discussion of the new regional Charter, which after long debate passed its first reading. The document, worked on since 2007, includes 6 sections and 23 chapters, and key decisions include abolishing the Charter Court and keeping the Audit Chamber as a parliamentary body. Deputies also reviewed changes to the 2009 budget and funding for important regional facilities, including the perinatal center and the new library.

Six sections and twenty-three chapters. This is what the new Charter of the region looks like. Its discussion became the main topic of today’s session of the Legislative Assembly.
Instead of the allotted 35 minutes, discussion of the draft Charter took more than an hour. This issue became the main one at the 8th session of the Legislative Assembly. Serious work has been done, and the main contentious points have been agreed upon — everyone acknowledged that. But there were still debates today. For example, many parliamentarians believed that the number of deputies, fixed in the Charter at 45, should be increased to 62.
- Amendments will certainly be made. This is an improvement of the legal framework, but the fundamental basis has been established today, the concept has been approved. Now all that remains is to bring all the amendments to their logical conclusion by the next session, - says the chairwoman of the Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk Region, Lyudmila Berlina.
The region’s Constitution, as the Charter is also called, has 6 sections and 23 chapters. The new document has become larger. Work on it has been underway since 2007. For the first time, the norms of legislation have been set out in detail, and an entire chapter is devoted to the legal organization of state authorities. The proposed draft does not include a Charter Court — the drafters considered that there was no particular need to create one. Besides, it would require additional expenses.
- A decision was made, and today we heard that it found confirmation in those positions and views of ours that were defined by our faction. That is, the first deputy governors should be approved, that there is still no need for a Charter Court, because many issues can be resolved in courts of general jurisdiction, and that the Audit Chamber will remain entirely an organ of the Legislative Assembly, - says the chairwoman of the LDPR faction in the regional Legislative Assembly, Nina Chekotova.
Governor Igor Esipovsky also supported the current model of the Audit Chamber. It provides that this financial control body is subordinate to parliament, and a candidate for the position of its head may be nominated by a group of deputies numbering at least 1/4 of the total membership.
The main disagreements have been settled, but there are still many questions. Today the region’s main document passed its first reading. The final version of the Charter of the Irkutsk Region will be adopted in April-May at a session of the Legislative Assembly.
Another issue was amendments to the 2009 budget. They are related to the redistribution of additional funds: more than 70 million rubles in tax revenues, and more than 2 billion rubles from the federal treasury. It had been planned that funds would be allocated to complete construction of the Regional Perinatal Center. The facility is practically finished.
- Right now we cannot provide for this. Appropriations will be provided after the first-quarter revenue results are summed up, after we conduct an audit of all construction programs for all facilities at the May session. And the funds will, of course, be allocated, - says Sergei Kurilov, chairman of the budget committee of the regional Legislative Assembly.
At the May session, deputies will also have to decide on financing the design work for the new building of the regional library.