Vedomosti: Leonid Slutsky may lose post as head of international affairs committee in new State Duma
United Russia is preparing to replace Leonid Slutsky of the LDPR as head of the State Duma’s international affairs committee in the new Duma.
Sources in the State Duma and people close to Russia’s Presidential Administration told the Russian business daily Vedomosti that United Russia wants to regain control of one of the chamber’s key committees.
The new committee chair could be Pyotr Tolstoy, currently the State Duma’s deputy speaker from United Russia, the sources said. They named Vyacheslav Nikonov, the committee’s first deputy chair, as a another, though less likely, candidate.
Slutsky, who has led the international affairs committee since 2016, will stay on as head of the LDPR faction in the new Duma, according to the sources.
A final decision on the committees’ structure and membership won’t come until after the election, the sources said.
Several female journalists from the parliamentary press pool publicly accused Leonid Slutsky of harassment in 2018. A parliamentary ethics commission found no violations in his conduct, and Slutsky, who never admitted guilt, ignored calls to leave the State Duma.
Russia will hold elections for the ninth State Duma on September 18–20, and the new lower house of parliament must convene for its first session within 30 days of the vote.
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