Translated material
Two percent protest
During the spring session, out of 250 laws, the Federation Council rejected five
The upper house of the Russian parliament went on vacation. On Monday, July 19, members of the Federation Council held the final meeting of the spring session, finally adopted another package of bills and said goodbye to each other and to journalists for two months.Of the issues discussed on Monday, the most resonant was the package of bills providing for amendments to the law “On the Federal Security Service” and to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses. Because of this law, the meeting of the Federation Council was even marked by such a rare phenomenon for the present time as a picket in protest. The role of a single picketer was played by the adviser to party leader Sergei Mitrokhin, Artur Grokhovsky, who stood in front of the upper house building with a poster “Amendments to the law on the FSB - security officers are in favor!” Nevertheless, the law was adopted by an absolute majority of votes with one against. As it turned out, the Speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov himself voted against. In his opinion, the text of the law uses “absolutely free formulation.” “What will be the grounds for issuing a warning, real or made up?” - asked the speaker. He also expressed concern that people with a cool head and a warm heart could use the new norms “against leaders of independent trade unions and people defending their social rights.” “We’ll see what law enforcement practice will give,” he concluded. “Civil society has questions.”
Summing up the results of the spring session of the Federation Council, Mr. Mironov, in his closing remarks, reminded his colleagues that during these six months they managed to consider 250 federal laws. Almost all of them were accepted, and only five (or 2%) had to be rejected as “unfinished and raw.” As an example of one of these laws, the speaker cited the rejection of amendments to the law “On Communications,” when the position of the upper house was supported by the president. Thus, Sergei Mironov emphasized that the Federation Council continues to play a significant role as a legislative body.
Meanwhile, the legislative role of the upper house raises more and more questions in the expert community. This is due, firstly, to the fact that most of the bills received by the Federation Council from the State Duma are approved by senators without much discussion, and secondly, to the personnel composition of the chamber. As the gubernatorial corps is renewed, more and more retired regional heads are gradually moving to the Federation Council. In particular, former head of the Oryol region Egor Stroev, ex-governor of the Sverdlovsk region Eduard Rossel, ex-governor of the Krasnodar region Nikolai Kondratenko, former head of the Samara region Konstantin Titov, former head of the Voronezh region Vladimir Kulakov, ex-governor of the Smolensk region became senators from their regions. Viktor Maslov, former president of North Ossetia Alexander Dzasokhov, former president of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Mikhail Nikolaev, retired governor of the Volgograd region Nikolai Maksyuta. As a result, the chamber increasingly resembles a place of well-deserved rest for the political stars of the day before yesterday.
Analysts, however, do not lose hope that the Federation Council will still be able to fulfill the tasks assigned to it by the Constitution. “The Upper House plays a very significant role in the Russian legislative process,” Dmitry Orlov, Director General of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications, told a Vremya Novostei correspondent. “Sometimes the Federation Council plays the role of a restraining factor in the adoption of bills. This role of the Upper House as more conservative traditional for many countries."
Problems in the activities of the upper chamber, according to Mr. Orlov, are mainly related to “the influence of the central apparatus of the Federation Council on the process of formation of this body.” “There were letters signed by Mironov, where he recommended that certain legislative bodies nominate certain representatives,” the expert recalls. Also, in his opinion, the procedure for vesting senatorial powers with representatives nominated by regions does not correspond to the logic of the law.
“If the legislative assembly of a subject has nominated a candidate, why confirm the powers?” the expert is perplexed. “There is only one decision, the second is a quasi-decision that strengthens the position of the apparatus of the Federation Council.” However, the analyst hopes that the situation will change after the entry into force of a new law on the procedure for forming the upper house.
Let us remind you that since 2011, only people who have gone through the election procedure for legislative assemblies at any level will be able to become senators. “This will make it possible to avoid the election of high-ranking retirees, representatives of big capital, to the upper chamber,” says Dmitry Orlov. “The Chamber should to a greater extent reflect regional rather than corporate interests.”
In turn, independent political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin is confident that it is the Federation Council that expresses corporate interests. “This is a lobbying body, and it defends the interests of commercial structures,” he told Vremya Novostey. “On those issues that occupy the top of the vertical, there are no obstacles from the Federation Council. If there are discussions, then only in lobbying issues: about excise taxes, vodka prices, customs issues. I’m not sure that in its current form this body will become a platform on which regions can adequately discuss their claims to the center.” However, if the subjects of the federation develop, “difficulties of growth” are inevitable, especially if subsidies to the regions from the Federal center are reduced. “For now they prefer to negotiate at the individual level, but sooner or later conflicts of interest will begin if the country develops,” warns Dmitry Oreshkin.
Be that as it may, for now the debate about the fate of the Federation Council can be considered postponed until September 22 - on this day the autumn session will begin. In the meantime, the Speaker of the House Sergei Mironov went on an extreme vacation. “This year I plan to shake off the old days and go on an expedition to Eastern Siberia with my friends from a geological expedition,” he said, answering a question from a Vremya Novostei correspondent. The speaker did not talk about the details yet, but promised to post a full report on his blog on LiveJournal after his return.