Calathrinan Duma

The Calathrinan Duma is the lower house of the Calathrinan Parilament in the Calathrinan Empire, the upper being the Calathrinan State Council. The Duma is headquartered in the April Palace in Saint Cathinburg. Members are refered to as deputies.

History
The Duma was established in 1906 by the liberal-democratic Nicholas II of Calathrina, as part of his Revolutionary Reforms. It started as a advisory body, and evolved to become a legislative assembly of great power. At first, only males over 21 voted for the members of the Duma. In 1918, a electoral reform bill was enacted, extending the right to vote to women and men over 18 years of age.

Powers
The Duma has the special power of organizing the Budget, usually proposed by the Prime Minister or the Emperor. The Duma also can propose and apporve laws. A special power is of working with the prime minister. The Duma also apporves the military plans of the State Council and offically oversees the Bureaucracy. The Duma can also issue "legislative decrees" on the apporval of a majority of it's members, to excrise these powers.

Composition
As of present, the Duma has 442 members, elected in the following manner: each Governorate in the Empire returns a certain amount of delegates, depending on population. The City and District of St. Cathinsburg and the Grand Duchy of Finland and Kingdom of Calathrinan Poland also return delegates. Each delegate is taken from a electoral district and is elected by all voters aged eighteen and upwards, through a secret universal ballot. The candiate with the most popular votes in each district becomes that district's delegate. The votes are then confirmed by a electoral college appointed and dismissed by each governorate. The cities of Saint Cathinburg, Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Tblinsi, Ulbaantaar, Riga, Vilnus, Minsk, Warshaw, Lodz, and Krakow elect their delegates personally, but use the same voting system. The Duma is led by the President, currently, Boris Gryzlov since December 29, 2003.