Interfax: Matviyenko calls for respect of Russian Constitution

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko believes the resources of the Russian Constitution have not been exhausted yet and the issue of changing it should be approached very carefully.

“We should treat the Constitution very carefully. We should always remember that this document determines the long-term national development and is far from having exhausted its resources yet. For this reason, the issue of changes to the Constitution should be approached very carefully,” Matviyenko said at the international parliamentary forum entitled Constitution, democracy. Parliamentarism held on Thursday.

To support her contention, Matviyenko spoke about Russian history, recalling “the sad days of October 1993.”

“We will continue looking for the causes of these events now. We as legislators need to remember that some 300 amendments were made to the Constitution before those events in 1992 alone,” she said.

“This ‘maintenance’ of the Constitution, which bordered on its destruction, seriously reflected on the development of the political crisis, whose sad consequences the country still feels,” she said.

Speaking about parliamentary democracy, Matviyenko said she is convinced that its potential is still high and the demand for democracy in society is increasing continually.

“Russia went a long a difficult way in the 20th century in regards to its parliament. There were not only glorious democratic victories, but also deviations from democratic norms, which were sometimes clearly violated,” Matviyenko said.

[featured image is file photo]