FC should represent more efficiently interests of regions

MOSCOW, September 26 (Itar-Tass) -- The Federation Council should
represent more efficiently the interests of the regions at the national level that is the task and mission of the upper house of Russian parliament, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said in a live interview in the Voskresnoye Vremya (Sunday Time) television program on Sunday evening.
"The Federation Council should be a professional team of lawmakers," Matviyenko noted. In reply to a question about the veto right, which the Federation Council has, she stated, "I believe that the veto right of the Federation Council should be used more frequently and more efficiently. The number of turned down laws is not in question," she noted.
"The Federation Council has already introduced some element to elect the senators, because since this year a representative of the region elected as a deputy by municipal or regional legislative authorities can become a member of the Federation Council. So, the element of election already exists," she stressed.
Matviyenko considers as the key problem between the federal and
regional authorities "excessive powers of some ministries and agencies."
"Today a too large number of the bodies of federal ministries and
agencies, which link executive and legislative authorities, work in the regions," Matviyenko underlined.