New Federation Council Regulation

In an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday, deputy chairman of the Federation Council's regulation commission and member of a specially created working commission Nikolai Tulayev said that the basic articles of new regulations for the upper house of the Russian parliament would be considered at the chamber's next session. This will be held on January 16th. The draft regulation contains a series of entirely new articles, which are connected with the chamber's new permanent procedure that came into force on January 1st. Governors and the heads of regional legislative assemblies can no longer sit in the Federation Council and their places will be taken by representatives working on a permanent basis. The draft regulation prepared by the working group prohibits the formation of parliamentary factions or groups in the Federation Council on a political or territorial basis. One statute also forbids representatives from a Federation constituent member from holding a leading post in the upper chamber and being a member of the Chamber Council. Moreover, the draft expands the powers and the role of the Chamber Council, which is made up of the Federation Council speaker, his deputies and committee chairmen. The January 16th session is expected to approve the draft regulations. The final version will be submitted in late January following revision.