Putin signs law on ‘presidential quota’ of upper house members

ItarTass: The law introduces several amendments to the Russian Constitution empowering the president to appoint up to 10% of all members of the upper house

 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law on “presidential quota” of members of Russian parliament’s upper house Federation Council. The document was made public at an official portal of legal information on Tuesday.

The law introduces several amendments to the Russian Constitution empowering the president to appoint up to 10% of all members of the upper house by his decree. So, the president is granted the right to delegate 17 lawmakers representing Russian constituent entities to the upper house.

The Federation Council has approved these amendments on May 28. Then they were submitted for debating in regional Legislative Assemblies. All 85 Russian regions gave a positive reply to this legislative initiative.

The amendments enlarge the line-up of the Federation Council thanks to representatives not only from regions, but also the federal centre enrolled in the upper house. Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko has earlier proposed to appoint upper house members on “presidential quota” in one or two years.