SOCHI, Sep 1 (PRIME) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday that the reinstatement of elections to the Federation Council, the Russian parliaments upper house, was possible.
The president told reporters it was necessary to amend the countrys political system, including all of its institutions.
I believe it is important to think about strengthening the parliamentary component (in the political system) so that parties become more active and parliamentary investigations become more effective. As far as the upper house is concerned, it would not be a bad thing to revisit the idea of elections, Medvedev said.
The 166 member Federation Council was an elected body only in 19931995. The council and the State Duma, the Russian parliaments lower house, were created at the same time as the adoption of a new constitution for the Russian Federation designed to replace Soviet-era government bodies and constitution.
Currently, each Russian region sends two unelected senators as representatives to the council.
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