Putin: The Federation Council can become elected

President Putin believes that the transition to direct elections of senators should occur, but for this it is necessary to change the constitution, RIA Novosti reports. “I know that many of you, in fact, and I, believe that once, ultimately, we will have to move on to the direct elections of senators, but we must look at the Constitution. The Constitution prescribes that the members of the upper house represent the legislative and executive power of the Federation, so we need to think about changing the Basic Law,” Putin said at a meeting with the leaders of parliamentary factions.

In October, Putin has already talked about the possibility of introducing direct elections of the Federation Council. In response to the performance of the television journalist Mikhail Leontyev, who announced the need to cancel direct elections of governors, Putin noted that the decision to introduce them was correct. And in response to a replica about the possibility of introducing the election of senators, he stated that "and this will also have to be done."

“We did the right thing that we moved to the direct elections of regional leaders. It’s another matter that our country is difficult, and find the formula that would spread throughout the country, but would take into account the nuances of each region - a difficult task. Let's think together and look,” added Putin.

He noted that citizens "as a result of the right to choose has responsibility for those whom they choose."

In June of this year, Putin proposed changing the procedure for the formation of the upper house of the parliament and introduced the corresponding bill to the State Duma. According to amendments, the Senate will still be a non-party body, but its future members will go through regional elections. The law may enter into force on January 1, 2013.

According to the document, candidates from the executive branch are taken to vote in the election of the governor, each candidate for governors submits three candidates for senators. The head of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation, Vladimir Pligin, explained earlier that the governor will be able to send any of these three candidates to the Federation Council. The Legislative Assembly of the region will be able to send only its deputy to the Federation Council. The bill prescribes the procedure for the proposal of candidates for this position.

Then Putin opposed direct elections to the Federation Council. "We thought about the possibility of electing a member of the Federation Council through a direct vote, but the Constitution prescribed that the upper house is formed from representatives of the executive and legislative authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation. It does not say that the ward should be formed by direct voting of citizens," Putin explained. "But in the future, I think, and this is possible."