Panorama Photos to Track Duma Slackers

By The Moscow Times

June 18, 2010

The State Duma has come up with a new measure to expose lawmakers who habitually skip work: order the legislature's staff photographer to take panorama shots of the hall during sessions to see who is missing.

One Duma deputy has even jokingly asked to be photoshopped into all pictures, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported Thursday, adding that more than half of the Duma's 450 deputies missed last Friday's session despite the ongoing media frenzy about Duma slackers.

The Duma plans to pass a law making attendance mandatory by September, but deputies will be provided with a list of excuses that they can offer to miss sessions.

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