New senators are increasingly being appointed from outside the troika of governors

Governors are increasingly choosing new senators instead of those who left the Federation Council early, not from among their electoral troikas, as required by law. Appointed as a senator from the government of the Belgorod region on October 9, the former head physician of the Belgorod regional clinical hospital of St. Joasaph Zhanna Chefranova (deputy of the legislative assembly) was not included in the election trio of governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in 2021.

In the chamber, Chefranova replaced the last chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, 94-year-old Nikolai Ryzhkov, who represented the Belgorod region in the upper house of parliament since 2003 and resigned on September 25. In addition to Ryzhkov, the three candidates from Gladkov included Olga Pavlova, who held the post of chairman of the Belgorod Regional Duma at the time of the elections (relinquished her mandate on July 6, 2023) and deputy Alexander Shumeiko.

In accordance with the law “On the procedure for forming the Federation Council,” in the event of early resignation of a senator representing an executive body, the governor appoints a new member of the chamber within 10 days from among the candidates he submitted to the election commission before his own elections. Pavlova and Shumeiko did not publicly comment on the situation with the appointment of the senator. Gladkov also did not explain whether they had refused the position.

Perhaps, with such an appointment, they are guided by Part 4 of Art. 5 of the law on the procedure for forming the Federation Council, says political scientist Pavel Sklyanchuk. It states that the decision to grant powers must be made by the newly elected governor “no later than the day after the day he takes office.” But no other additional conditions are specified in this part – for example, there is no reference to the fact that the new member of the Federation Council must be one of the three candidates, Sklyanchuk notes.

Chefranova is not the first senator appointed “from outside the troika.” On March 22, 2021, the governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoyt, appointed former Secretary of State of the Union State of Russia and Belarus Grigory Rapota as a new senator instead of the deceased ex-head of the region Alexander Mikhailov. The latter was also not included in the pre-election top three for the head of the region.

The governor himself explained to Kommersant that State Duma deputy from the Kursk region Alexander Bryksin and the rector of KSMU, regional Duma deputy Viktor Lazarenko, who were on his list of candidates for granting the powers of a member of the Federation Council, refused to hold the post of senator.

In such cases, the principle of “free cash” applies: if the waiting list is over, then anyone can be appointed, provided that the candidate meets the senatorial qualifications, says political strategist Oleg Zakharov. Rapota, like Chefranova, was appointed after the 10-day deadline established by law.

Similarly, on June 18, 2020, the then governor of the Ryazan region Nikolai Lyubimov appointed Irina Petina as senator (arrested on July 13, 2023 on charges of particularly large bribes). Petina’s empowerment took place more than a month after the death of the previous senator Oleg Kovalev.

There should be certainty regarding the constitutional responsibility of governors regarding the appointment of senators, says electoral lawyer Garegin Mitin. Those measures of responsibility that are provided for in Art. 29, 30 of the federal law “On the general principles of the organization of public power in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation” are obviously not enough, he says. “Such actions or inaction of governors should entail certain negative consequences both for them themselves, such as a warning or prosecutorial (for example, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation) warning, and for a senator appointed in violation of order,” Mitin emphasized. In addition, responsibility for “delaying” the appointment of a senator can be combined with the subsequent appointment of regional elections of a senator who was not appointed on time from among the residents of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation, Mitin added.

It is not accepted in public law to bind the timing of making personnel decisions with liability, because this does not correspond to the essence of such actions – the right of an authorized person or body to determine the best candidate, notes Zakharov. According to him, specifically for the appointment of senators, the practice has followed the path of “if it is impossible, but necessary, then it is possible.” According to the expert, it is possible to think about amendments to clarify this procedure so that vacant seats in the upper house of parliament are not empty.