The State Duma on Friday passed a bill in the second and third readings that obliges deputies to attend parliamentary sessions — unless they have a reason not to do so, Interfax said.
Legitimate grounds for skipping a Duma session include illness, marriage, birth of a child, death of a close relative or a working trip sanctioned by the Duma speaker or his first deputy.
Penalties for deputies who skip work will be decided in the fall.
The crackdown on absentees began after a May television report showed the Duma successfully passing a bill despite only 88 of the 450 deputies being in attendance.
(MT)