3rd State Duma mainly to keep the levers of control of the State Duma from its main competitors at that time - "Fatherland-All Russia". The Communists made an agreement on favorable terms. Later, second coalition was formed, The so-called "Coalition of Four" which included Unity, Fatherland-All Russia, People’s Deputy, and Russia’s Regions, and comprised exactly half of the Duma. The latter two of these groups were not parties per se, but rather deputy groups formed in the Duma. During the session, the parliament consolidated pro-government forces around President Vladimir Putin: the merger of public movements "Unity" and "Fatherland" was announced, which led to
Duma this was changed to a five-year term in late 2008. In previous elections of 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2003 one half of the deputies were elected by a system of proportional representation and one half were elected by plurality in single member districts. However, the 2007 Duma elections were carried out in a new format: all 450 deputies were elected by a system of proportional representation. Russian citizens at least 21 years old are eligible to run for the Duma (Article 97). Duma A duma (дума) was a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term comes from the