Vladimir Putin introduced a draft law on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation for consideration by the State Duma. This was announced by presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has introduced a draft law on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation to the State Duma,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Recall that the President on January 15 made a message to the Federal Assembly and proposed a number of amendments to the Constitution. The measures announced by the head of state, in particular, are aimed at strengthening the role of parliament, consolidating the status of the State Council, raising social guarantees and other areas.
The draft law on amending the Constitution is published on the website of the State Duma. From the explanatory note to it it follows that the document was prepared on the basis of proposals submitted by the working group. After the adoption of the law by parliament, it will be put to the vote.
The draft amendment law establishes requirements for officials whose powers are related to ensuring the country's security and state sovereignty.
Such persons will be prohibited from working in relevant positions if they have the citizenship of a foreign country or a residence permit or other document confirming the right to permanent residence abroad.
It is proposed to presidential candidates to establish requirements for permanent residence in the Russian Federation for at least 25 years, as well as the absence of foreign citizenship or residence permit.
It is noteworthy that the requirement that a presidential candidate does not have foreign citizenship does not apply to citizens who previously had citizenship of the state, which was subsequently fully or partially accepted into the Russian Federation.
It is proposed to introduce similar requirements regarding foreign citizenship and residence permits in relation to members of the Federation Council, State Duma deputies, the Prime Minister, his deputies, federal ministers, heads of other federal bodies and judges.
According to the document, the age limit for ministers and the head of the Cabinet will be 30 years, for State Duma deputies - 21 years, for judges - 25 years.
In addition, the draft amendment excludes the possibility for the head of state to hold office for more than two terms.
“One and the same person cannot hold the post of president of the Russian Federation for more than two terms,” the document says.
In order to protect the social rights of citizens, it is proposed to establish a minimum wage at a level not lower than the cost of living of the able-bodied population as a whole in the Russian Federation. In addition to this, the amendments mention the guarantee of compulsory indexation of pensions, social benefits and other social benefits.
It is also proposed to introduce the procedure according to which the president nominates the candidate for the post of prime minister after approval by the State Duma. He also appoints ministers approved by the State Duma.
It is proposed that ministers who deal with issues of defense, state security, internal affairs, justice, foreign affairs, emergency prevention and natural disaster relief, public safety be appointed after consultation with the Federation Council.
The opportunity to form the State Council proposed to provide the president. According to the amendments, the State Council will determine the main directions of domestic and foreign policy. Details of its activities are planned to be formalized in a separate law.
In addition, the amendments note that the president provides the Federation Council with candidates for senior positions in the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and the Prosecutor General.
Another amendment is to provide the Constitutional Court with the opportunity to verify, at the president’s request, the constitutionality of laws adopted by the chambers of the Federal Assembly before they are signed by the president. At the same time, the composition of the Constitutional Court, according to the document, should be reduced from 19 to 11 judges.
Working Group and Voting
As Peskov specified, the representatives of the head of state when considering the bill in the State Duma will be the co-chairs of the constitutional commission Andrei Klishas, Pavel Krasheninnikov and Talia Khabrieva.
The State Duma Committee on State Building is expected to discuss the proposed constitutional amendments by Putin on January 21. This was announced by the speaker of the lower house of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin.
According to Andrei Klishas, a working group to prepare proposals for amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation will meet at least twice a week.
According to the senator, the group will have to consider many issues, among which the deputy named the procedure for the all-Russian voting and the procedure for adopting amendments through the procedure for the all-Russian voting.
“It is also necessary to develop and regulate the amendments themselves, for example, to determine the procedure and sequence for submitting and considering candidates, the rules for resolving disagreements and many other issues,” RIA Novosti quoted Klishas as saying.
Earlier, a spokesman for the president said that a nationwide vote on amendments to the Constitution de jure is not mandatory, but the head of state decided to find out the opinion of the Russians.
“There is an understanding that this should be a vote, and this vote as a whole is optional, because we are talking about changes that do not belong to the fundamental articles of the main law. But the president considered it necessary to verify the point of view of the people, therefore he spoke about this vote, ”Peskov said.