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Russia to elect new upper house speaker
MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Russia's upper house of parliament will elect a new speaker in early December, the chairman of the chamber's Federation faction, Valery Goreglyad, said Tuesday.
Federation Council Speaker Yegor Stroyev will abandon the post in compliance with Russia's reformed election law that bans regional chiefs from holding seats in the upper house. In late October, Stroyev, a communist and an influential heavyweight on Russia's political scene, won re-election as governor of the central region of Oryol.
According to the reform of the chamber that was pushed through in 2000 by President Vladimir Putin, all regional chiefs sitting in the Federation Council should quit the membership in the chamber no later than Jan. 1, 2002, and appoint their representatives in their stead.
The rotations have been under way for months as new faces gradually appeared in the house.
However, media speculated that in Stroyev's case an exception might be made considering his solid performance as speaker.
Following his re-election, the Kremlin said the law would not be amended. Nevertheless, there was no word of a new election until Tuesday when Goreglyad announced the news.
The ballot will be held on Dec. 5, nearly a month ahead of the deadline that will terminate Stroyev's powers as speaker.
Stroyev's departure will also mark another defeat of the communists whose ranks are shrinking under the Putin administration in contrast to their domination over the parliament during the rule of Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin.
Goreglyad refused Tuesday to say who would succeed Stroyev, but did say there were "candidates, worthy of the speaker's post among those who are already working in the chamber."
Yevgeny Primakov, Russia's former foreign and prime minister, is mentioned most often by the media as the likely choice to fill the spot. He currently holds a deputy seat in the lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma.
In early September, Primakov quit his post of a faction leader in the Fatherland-All Russia movement, immediately sparking rumors that he would be picked to replace Stroyev.
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