MOSCOW, October 1, (RIA Novosti) -- The first closed session of the Russian Public Chamber has been held in Moscow. Politics Foundation President Vyacheslav Nikonov, a member of the Public Chamber, said the session discussed procedure for electing the remaining two-thirds of its membership.
Shortly before the session, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree approving the first 42 members of the Public Chamber, including such prominent figures as the newly appointed head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin; doctors Leonid Roshal and Leo Bokeria; Academician Yevgeny Velikhov, a nuclear scientist; Mufti Sheik Ravil Gainutdin; and Russia's Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar.
The Law on the Public Chamber entered into force on July 1, 2005. Under the law, the Chamber is formed in three stages.
At the first stage, the Russian president approves the first 42 members of the Public Chamber.
Then these 42 members elect 42 representatives from Russia's national public associations. After that, members of the Public Chamber, approved by the president, and representatives of Russian national public associations elect 42 representatives from regional and interregional public associations.
The Chamber will have a total of 126 members.
The first stage should be over before September 30; the second, before November 30, and the third, before December 31, 2005.
The Public Chamber will be meeting at its own discretion, but at least twice a year, Deputy Chief of the Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov told journalists on Friday. "The main work will be done in commissions," he said, adding that commissions set their own work schedules.
The Public Chamber is empowered to request official documents from all branches of government, "summon state functionaries on all levels," initiate public inquiries, and evaluate laws and executive orders, Surkov said.
The Chamber's decisions will be non-binding.
