MOSCOW, September 21 (Itar-Tass) —— Valentina Matviyenko, who was elected Speaker of the Federation Council on Wednesday, supports the principle of electing senators to the Upper House, but she is not certain yet in which form this principle should be correctly realized.
"My principled position is that senators should be elected," Matviyenko told journalists, commenting on her earlier announced plans to draft a bill on a new order of the formation of the Upper House of the Russian parliament. Nevertheless, the speaker admitted she was not certain yet how the idea of the direct elections of senators should be realized. "One should think it over and conduct consultations," Matviyenko said.
Asked about possible dates when such a draft might be ready for hearings, Matviyenko said this should not be done in a hurry. "One should seriously think everything over so as not to put forward the initiative for the sake of merely suggesting anything," she said. This certainly will not be done in the autumn session because the parliamentary elections are ahead when stability of the political system should be ensured,” she said. "We will rather do it next year," she said. Earlier, President Dmitry Medvedev neither ruled out a possibility of switching over to the principle of electing senators.
At present, the Federation Council consists of members who were elected deputies on a regional or municipal levels and delegated to the Upper House.
Matviyenko comes out for formation of Upper House on election basis
"My principled position is that senators should be elected," Matviyenko told journalists