State Duma (Russian Empire) denying responsible government at the executive level. Furthermore, the Tsar had the power to dismiss the Duma and announce new elections whenever he wished; article 87 allowed him to pass temporary (emergency) laws by decrees. All these powers and prerogatives assured that, in practice, the Government of Russia continued to be a non-official absolute monarchy. It was in this context that the first Duma opened four days later, on April 27, 1906. The first Duma opened on 27 April 1906 after the 1905 revolution and was established by Nicholas II in his October Manifesto, with around 500 deputies; most radical
4th State Duma four were able to overcome the 5% election threshold to gain representation based upon the proportional representation system and another party was held in the State Duma by winning a few electoral districts. The first meeting of the State Duma traditionally held oldest deputy – 80 year-old of Valentin Varennikov. On December 29, 2003, the parliament elected Boris Gryzlov as the Chairman of the State Duma. First Deputy Chairman elected: Lyubov Sliska and Alexander Zhukov. Deputy Chairman elected: Georgy Boos (before September 21, 2005), Yuri Volkov (since September 21, 2005), Artur Chilingarov, Vyacheslav Volodin, Vladimir Pekhtin, Oleg Morozov, Valentin Kuptsov,