By RIA Novosti,
St. Petersburg : The Kremlin Saturday denied reports that Russia’s security council, which implements the president’s decisions on internal security, would be reformed and its powers expanded.
Reports in the Russian media Friday said that a bill, to be tabled in the State Duma or lower house of parliament this autumn, would give the security council the power to issue instructions to the government.
However, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Naryshkin told journalists: “No bill is being drafted. There is no overriding need (for the reform).”
Established in 1992, the security council is a consultative body of the Russian president that works out the president’s decisions on national security affairs.
Composed of key ministers and agency heads and chaired by the president, who appoints its members, the council holds weekly sessions on urgent domestic and foreign political issues.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved the composition of the security council in May, naming the former head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Nikolai Patrushev as its chief.