MOSCOW, January 16./TASS/. Meeting on Thursday with the working group tasked with drafting amendments to the Russian constitution, President Vladimir Putin did not rule out that more amendments could be put forward to look into, co-chair of the working group Andrey Klishas told TASS on Thursday.
"I think that we can shortly commit to paper the proposals that have already been formulated by the president in his State of the Nation Address. However, the president did not rule out that there could be some additional proposals," said Klishas, chair of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building.
"The task of the working group is to put together these proposals, assess them, discuss them extensively, including with members of the public," Klishas said after a meeting of the working group.
Afterwards, the working group will report to the president about the results. "And we will be jointly deciding which proposals to bring up for nationwide discussion, and which will be submitted directly to the parliament for passing a law," the senator said.
He said it had been decided that the working group would be actively involving scientific establishments and the expert society. The president emphasized that "political experience is important, life experience, that is why we have a lot of members of the public (in the group), who are expected to make a major contribution to drafting the amendments," Klishas explained.
He said a next meeting of the working group would be held on Friday, and then its members would be meeting whenever necessary. "We will be working hard. As for the terms, the president said this is not an activity for years, it will be conducted within the next few months," the co-chair said.
In his State of the Nation Address delivered Wednesday, Putin proposed adopting a number of amendments to the Constitution. In particular, he proposed cementing the supremacy of the Constitution over international treaties within Russia’s domestic legal space, as well as a number of social guarantees, including adjusting the minimal wage and pensions for inflation. Besides, the Russian leader suggested boosting the role of local governmental bodies and regional governors when making federal-level decisions and cementing the status of the State Council. His proposals also included expanding the power of the State Duma, the Federation Council and the Constitutional Court, as well as toughening the requirements for senior officials and presidential candidates.
Putin suggested putting to the vote a package of amendments to the Russian Constitution. The president will sign a special decree to set a date and rules of putting to the vote amendments to the Constitution, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said later on Wednesday.