Informal Powers and Power Centres

Another centre of power in the presidential administration is the Security Council, which was created by statute in mid-1992. The 1993 constitution describes the council as formed and headed by the president and governed by statute. Since its formation, it apparently has gradually lost influence in competition with other power centres in the presidential administration. However, the June 1996 appointment of former army general and presidential candidate Alexander Lebed to head the Security Council improved prospects for the organization’s standing. In July 1996, a presidential decree assigned the Security Council a wide variety of new missions. The decree’s description of the Security Council’s consultative functions was especially vague and wide-ranging, although it positioned the head of the Security Council directly subordinate to the president. As had been the case previously, the Security Council was required to hold meetings at least once a month.

Other presidential support services include the Control Directorate (in charge of investigating official corruption), the Administrative Affairs Directorate, the Presidential Press Service, and the Protocol Directorate. The Administrative Affairs Directorate controls state dachas, sanatoriums, automobiles, office buildings, and other perquisites of high office for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, a function that includes management of more than 200 state industries with about 50,000 employees.

The president also has extensive powers over military policy. As the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president approves defence doctrine, appoints and removes the high command of the armed forces, and confers higher military ranks and awards. The president is empowered to declare national or regional states of martial law, as well as states of emergency. In both cases, both chambers of the parliament must be notified immediately. The Federation Council, the upper chamber, has the power to confirm or reject such a decree. The regime of martial law is defined by federal law. The circumstances and procedures for the president to declare a state of emergency are more specifically outlined in federal law than in the constitution. In practice, the Constitutional Court ruled in 1995 that the president has wide leeway in responding to crises within Russia, such as lawlessness in the separatist Republic of Chechnya, and that Yeltsin’s action in Chechnya did not require a formal declaration of a state of emergency. In 1994 Yeltsin declared a state of emergency in Ingushetia and North Ossetia, two republics beset by intermittent ethnic conflict.

1. Answer the following questions.

1. Why did Russia need a new constitution during 1992 – 1993?

2. What type of state is Russia?

3. What party system is accepted?

4. Who determines the basic objectives of internal and external policy?

5. In what cases may the State Duma file impeachment charges?

6. Who assumes the president’s duties, if he cannot carry out his duties due to poor health?

7. What officials can the president appoint or remove?

8. When was the Security Council created and who heads it?

9. What are other presidential support services?

10. What is the role of the president in military policy?

2. Match the words with their definitions:

obsolete referendum uphold credentials contravene dismiss perquisites state of emergency

a) a sudden and serious event which needs immediate action b) prerogatives, advantages of smb because of social position c) an occasion when people can vote on an important issue d) out of date e) documents that prove who the person is f) remove smb from job g) support h) infringe, doing smth. that is not allowed by law

3. Use the above words from the left column and fill in gaps with them.

1. The president heads the meetings of the Government, which he may … in its entirety.

2. After examining his …, he was allowed to enter.

3. With technological changes many traditional skills have become ….

4. As he held high office, he had all … of power.

5. The company was found guilty of … contract.

6. The changes were approved by ….

7. We have the duty … the law.

4. Match the verbs and nouns to get phrases used in the text, make up your own sentences with them.

1.grant a) decrees

2.sanction b) federal laws

3.issue c) draft laws

4.dissolve d) greater power

5.submit e) diversity of ideologies

6.hold f) meetings

7.promulgate g) the State Duma

8.assume h) awards

9.confer i) the president’s duties

5. Arrange a discussion of the following:

Do Russians desire ‘a vertical power structure and a strong hand’?

6. Speak on ‘The President’s powers and duties’

Presidential elections

The constitution sets few requirements for presidential elections. The presidential term is set at four years, and the president may serve only two terms. A candidate for president must be a citizen of Russia, at least thirty-five years of age, and a resident of the country for at least ten years. If a president becomes unable to continue in office because of health problems, resignation, impeachment, or death, a presidential election is to be held not more than three months later. In such a situation, the Federation Council is empowered to set the election date.

The Law on Presidential Elections, ratified in May 1995, establishes the legal basis for presidential elections. Under the law, parties, blocs, and voters’ groups register with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and designate their candidates. These organizations then are permitted to begin seeking the 2 million signatures needed to register their candidates; no more than 7 percent of the signatures may come from a single federal jurisdiction. The purpose of the 7 percent requirement is to promote candidacies with broad territorial bases and eliminate those supported by only one city or ethnic enclave.

The law requires that at least 50 percent of eligible voters participate in order for a presidential election to be valid. In State Duma debate over the legislation, some deputies had advocated a minimum of 25 percent (which was later incorporated into the electoral law covering the State Duma), warning that many Russians were disillusioned with voting and would not turn out. To make voter participation easier, the law required one voting precinct for approximately every 3,000 voters, with voting allowed until late at night.

The Law on Presidential Elections requires that the winner receive more than 50 percent of the voters cast. Another provision of the election law empowers the CEC to request that the Supreme Court ban a candidate from the election if that candidate advocates a violent transformation of the constitutional order or the integrity of the Russian Federation.