Chairman of the State Duma Chairman of the State Duma The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (), also called "Speaker" (), is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Russian parliament. His responsibilities include overseeing the day-to-day business of the State Duma presiding and maintaining order at the regular sessions of the parliament. The Speaker also chairs the Council of the Duma which includes representatives from all the parliamentary parties and determines the legislative agenda. The Speaker of the Duma may intervene and express his views but is supposed to be unbiased in his activities
Parliament State Duma (which is better known than the Federal Assembly itself, and is often mistaken for the entirety of the parliament) comes from the Russian word "думать" ("dumat"), "to think". The Boyar Duma was an advisory council to the grand princes and tsars of Muscovy. The Duma was discontinued by Peter the Great, who transferred its functions to the Governing Senate in 1711. The "veche" was the highest legislature and judicial authority in the republic of Novgorod until 1478. In its sister state, Pskov, a separate veche operated until 1510. Since the Novgorod revolution of 1137 ousted the ruling grand