The State Duma adopted a law on the possibility of regions to withdraw senators from the Federation Council

The State Duma adopted in the third and final reading a law allowing regions to early recall senators from the Federation Council. This should from the Duma electronic database.

The amendments adopted by the lower chamber will make it possible to make decisions on the recall of a senator from the Federation Council by the region a year after his appointment, but no later than three months before the end of his term of office. At the same time, the decision to recall a senator should be made by the Federation Council itself. In case of refusal, the initiative can be put forward again only after six months.

Under the law, “candidates for senators” will be subject to the same requirements that apply to candidates for other elected offices (including with regard to a criminal record).

The bill was submitted to the State Duma at the end of March by senators Andrei Klishas and Vyacheslav Timchenko, as well as United Russia deputies Pavel Krasheninnikov, Dmitry Vyatkin, Leonid Ivlev, LDPR deputy Alexei Didenko, and a member of the New People faction Vladislav Davankov. On May 17, the parliament adopted the relevant law in the second reading.

During the discussion of the draft law in the State Duma, Alexei Kurinny, a deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, suggested that this would allow depriving the mandate of “some wrong senators who vote there incorrectly or voice their position incorrectly.”

“In fact, we are making the upper chamber an absolutely controlled body, any member of which can be pulled out at any moment,” the deputy added.

At the same time, United Russia deputy Vyatkin argued the amendments by saying that the governors are resigning, and the new ones need to form their own team. In addition, he stressed that ten years ago it was possible to recall a senator, it was rarely used and “now it will not be used often.”