Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 856 - 829: Latest Polls

Chapter 856: Chapter 829: Latest Polls

On December 26, the Duma held a special meeting to review the Government’s "Financial Expenditure Budget of 2004."

Grezlov, Wang Ye, Krov, and several speakers were seated on the main platform.

As for the government representative, which was the Vice President and Finance Minister Kuderin, he stood at the edge of the speaking platform below the main platform and first reported to all Duma Members the national finance revenue and expenditures for the year 2003.

During that year, the overall trend of national economic development was good, with a high GDP growth rate.

Of course, these past matters were just listened to by everyone, and not taken too seriously; what was key was the economic development of the following year.

Next, Kuderin started by presenting the government’s expectations for the national economic development of the coming year, believing that the GDP growth rate could still be maintained at a high level, and the national economy would further improve.

To improve the predicaments of various institutions and departments, the finance expenditure budget for 2004 was specifically increased—to three trillion rubles!

Upon hearing this amount, the Meeting Hall, which had been very quiet, finally erupted into noise.

Many Congressmen started whispering to each other below, because they had not received this news before.

Although Wang Ye and Grezlov had already notified members within their respective factions before the meeting, and the Economic Committee had also discussed this plan several times,

there were still many members who were unaware, and they did not need to be.

After all, such a plan would not touch the personal interests of the Congressmen, and under normal circumstances, they would simply follow the lead of their respective faction leaders, either raising their hands in agreement or expressing opposition.

After Kuderin had finished reporting, Wang Ye was the first to speak, expressing approval for the excellent work done by the government side, and stated that he too was very optimistic about the economic development of the country for the next year, so there was absolutely no problem with the government raising the budget!

The Economic Committee had already passed this financial report unanimously.

This was him setting the tone; after all, the Economic Committee was in charge of economic issues and had significant authoritative voice in this area.

After Wang Ye, Grezlov spoke, greatly praising the work of the government, believing that the government departments had put in a great deal of effort in the past year and had successfully accomplished the economic development goals set at the beginning of the year.

And after achieving such great results, they did not relax but proposed a rather high development goal for the next year...

The successive speeches of the two speakers made it clear to all Duma Members one thing: the "heads" above had reached a consensus, and this financial report could pass smoothly!

Other Vice Speakers didn’t need to speak at all, and even the Second Faction’s Party leader Krov kept silent, without any objection.

Not to say that this financial report didn’t touch the interests of the Second Faction, but even if it did, he had no means to resist.

Because both the First Faction and the Third Faction agreed, and the votes were sufficient!

The most critical part of the report brought out by Kuderin was naturally the finance expenditure budget for the next year.

And this budget, was the one modified by Wang Ye himself.

It was increased by a whole five hundred billion rubles compared to the original draft!

But Wang Ye was not worried about it not passing; for him, who had already firmly secured his place as the second highest official in the Duma, pushing through a plan that did not obstruct the interests of the major factions was really too easy.

The voting segment that followed was just as uneventful as Wang Ye had anticipated.

Out of all 450 members, there were 428 votes in favor, 15 abstentions, and 7 votes from the opposition!

Those abstention votes were mostly due to the respective Congressmen being abroad and unable to attend the meeting.

As for those opposed, they were just Minor Factions trying to make their presence felt...

With a "bang" of the gavel, Grezlov officially passed the "financial report" within the Duma...

......

Having dealt with the government’s financial report, this year’s Duma work was also considered to be smoothly concluded.

As is customary, with the New Year approaching, the Duma would soon be taking a break.

It wouldn’t be until mid-January that they would become busy once again.

But this year was special: even at the year’s end, no one dared to relax; things were even busier.

Because come next March, the new session of elections would start!

As Duma Members, accustomed to all sorts of generous treatment and "privileges," who wouldn’t want to be re-elected!

Moreover, for most Congressmen, failing to get re-elected during the turnover would be tantamount to losing their "career"!

Their status and influence within the faction would also immediately suffer a significant drop.

So, as long as they were healthy and could continue working, most Congressmen intended to seek re-election.

That is to say, from this point on, the election truly entered a heated phase!

On December 28, the national news agency, in conjunction with major media, released the latest faction support rates, fresh off the presses.

It’s worth noting that the Elections for Duma Members are separate from the General Election, with the Congressional elections taking place first, followed by the General Election.

However, by looking at the number of seats each faction secured in the Duma, one could generally predict the outcome of the presidential race!

......

"Boss, the latest poll results are out, and our faction’s support rate has risen again!" Rossiyana came over with a newspaper, brimming with excitement.

Wang Ye looked up, took the newspaper handed by Rossiyana and asked with a smile, "Oh? How many percentage points has it gone up?"

He still remembered that back in October, shortly after the election promotion had begun, media had conducted a poll and at that time, the support rate for Wang Ye’s faction had already significantly increased.