Alarm bell for Russian senators
The Federation Council, the upper house in the Russian parliament and the federal legislative body for the Russian regions, might undergo major reforms. In the future, the council is likely to become more democratic.
The reformation of the Federation Council is about to become subject to extensive discussions both in Moscow and the Russian regions, newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. A report with reform recommendations is to be elaborated by the Institute of Contemporary Development, the newspaper writes. Today, the Russian regional administrations handpick their representatives to the Federation Council, who afterwards need to be approved by the regional parliaments. Before Vladimir Putin’s reform of year 2000, the Federation Council consisted of regional governors and the speakers in the regional legislative assemblies. Putin’s reform was part of his bid to strengthen Moscow’s control over the regions. Now, the Federation Council could move in a more democratic direction. According to Aleksey Volin from the Institute of Contemporary Development, the formation of the council should in the future be based on “extended election procedures”. In addition, he believes that the council has turned into a body of retired governors and high officials, as well as regional businessmen seeking immunity from court prosecution. According to the Russian Constitution, only representatives of the legislative and executing branches in the regions can be members of the Federation Council. That fact does not scare Mr. Volin and his institute, however. He believes that appointment of the senators must be based on a combination of election procedures in the regional legislative assemblies and the administrations.
