MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. The Russian Federation Council is to hold consultations within seven days on the candidates nominated by the president for the positions of the defense, interior, justice and foreign ministers, the head of the upper house’s Committee on the Rules of Procedure and Parliamentary Governance told TASS.
The upper house will pass a resolution on its decision at a plenary meeting, and will immediately refer it to the president, he explained. "Under to the law, we must consider the issue within seven days from the point when [the president's candidacies] are submitted to the Federation Council, while the date of submission is not stipulated in the law. This means that the president can submit them as a package, or separately for each of the ministries and agencies," Timchenko explained, noting that some of the candidacies can be submitted on one day and others on another. "This is the president's right. It is not limited by anything," the senator noted.
The decision of the Federation Council will be formalized as a resolution, which senators are to vote for at a plenary session. The text of the resolution is not yet ready, Timchenko told TASS.
For the first time, the upper house will hold consultations on the candidacies of the security ministries’ heads and the top diplomat of the country. These rules were added to the legislation in the fall of 2020 as part of the amendments adopted to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in the summer of the same year. According to the amendments, a new procedure to form the country's Cabinet of Ministers was adopted.
Thus, the president appoints the prime minister, his deputies and federal ministers only after they have been approved by the State Duma (lower house of parliament). Such rules do not apply to the heads of the security ministries and the foreign minister. They are appointed by the president after consultations with the Federation Council, which must inform the head of state of its decision within a week’s time.