Russian lawmakers face a delicate conundrum as a petition requesting an assessment of the mental health of one of their own flock has gathered more than 103,000 signatures on the web.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the parliament last year to review any online petition that gains upwards of 100,000 backers.
Ultraconservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, a self-styled custodian of public morals and crusader against the LGBT lifestyle and the so-called “pedophile lobby.”
Mental health assessment
The latest petition to cross the threshold targets ultraconservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, a self-styled custodian of public morals and crusader against the LGBT lifestyle and the so-called “pedophile lobby.”
The petition launched on Onlinepetition.ru, which reached the required amount of signatures on Thursday, lambasted Mizulina over her “proposals to ban everything online.”
It also asserted claims that the lawmaker may suffer from schizophrenia, an inferiority complex and “living in her own world.”
Though the petition does not seek Mizulina’s removal “from the post that she gained through democratic procedures,” it does ask the Health Ministry to deploy its “best experts” for an assessment of her “mental health.” If the results prove less than satisfactory, the lawmaker should be dismissed, according to the petition.
Mizulina had not commented on the petition as of this article’s publication and could not be reached for comment on Sunday. The Duma and the Health Ministry also remained silent on the issue.
Leave a Comment