Duma Officials Comment On Structural Changes In Gov't

Representatives of various deputy factions voiced their attitude to the recent reshuffles in the government. Victor Pokhmelkin, deputy parliamentary chief of the Union of Right Forces faction, called the Putin-ordered changes in the structure of the Cabinet meaningless, because, in his opinion, it was necessary to make a serious cutback in the number of civil servants. Fatherland-All Russia leader Vyacheslav Volodin agreed that the number of government officials need to be reduced. "It was correct to make this reduction. We support this decision. It's quite another question about who will handle migration matters," he added. He hopes that the Cabinet will work more efficiently as a result of the structural changes. Gennadiy Raikov, leader of the People's Deputy group, backed the President's decision. "It is necessary to continue decreasing the number of departments and their staff," he stressed. Raikov conceded more changes in the structure of the government this year. State Duma speaker Gennadiy Seleznyov referred to the negative experience of merging the migration agency with the ministry on nationality affairs. "I wish that the reorganization went quickly and did not hamper work, because migration issues have turned into a serious problem for authorities," he added.