18 May 2011 15:46

Medvedev wants to keep current gubernatorial appointment system a few more years

SKOLKOVO. May 18 (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has not ruled out that the procedure of appointing regional governors could be changed in 10 or 15 years.

"Awhile ago I said that this procedure should not be changed at all. Now I am not so certain. I believe that it would be right to keep the procedure the way it is in the near term, for the foreseeable future, because it allows the country to run quite efficiently," Medvedev told a press conference on Wednesday.

"But I admit that after a certain number of years, this procedure can be changed, if not by me, then, say, by those who will be working in the next 10 or 15 years," he said.

But this requires "the maturing of preconditions," he said.