Duma more representative of Russians than US Congress of Americans

This is in reaction to the letter of Ilya Perenkov (“Russia no longer the defunct USSR,” Opinion, 11/24/16). I agree with him.

People who remain critical of Russia to this day should be reminded that Russia is not as evil as it is portrayed in Hollywood movies or by CNN.

First of all, in the Russian Duma (Parliament) you find politicians coming from the whole political spectrum—from the far Left (Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov) to the far Right (Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky). Also, everyone has a voice in the Duma. Unlike in the United States where there are only two political parties (Republican and Democratic) in the House of Representatives and the Senate. And Russia has no death penalty, unlike the United States where those getting such punishment are usually the poor and members of minority communities.

To be sure, life in Russia is not perfect, neither is the country a bed of roses but which country is? And there also are political wranglings there; corruption problems, too. Last month, Russia’s minister of economic affairs, Alexej Uljukajew, was arrested.

JÜRGEN SCHÖFER, PhD, [email protected]