MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti) - The board of Russia's upper house of parliament supports the president's candidate for prosecutor general and will ask the Federation Council to approve him Friday, the chamber speaker said Thursday.
"The chamber's board has just adopted a unanimous decision to approve conclusions made by our two committees and recommend that the senators appoint [Yury] Chaika as prosecutor peneral," Sergei Mironov said.
Chaika was nominated for the post Monday to replace Vladimir Ustinov, who was removed from office June 2 in the midst of an anti-corruption campaign inspired by President Vladimir Putin that he ardently supported. Reasons for his removal remain largely opaque.
Speaking at a roundtable Thursday, Alexander Khinshtein, a member of the lower house of parliament known for his exposes of big business and government officials, suggested the Federation Council would back Chaika as top prosecutor.
"I believe he will be appointed," Khinshtein said.
His words echo opinions expressed earlier by senior members of the Federation Council and the State Duma, who praised Chaika's professionalism.
Chaika, 55, had a long service record with the Prosecutor General's Office. He was Deputy Prosecutor General in 1995-1999 and served as acting Prosecutor General in 1999 under ex-President Boris Yeltsin.
"I know that stepping up fight against corruption will be one of the main objectives for the new prosecutor general," Khinshtein said, also predicting changes to the Prosecutor General's Office under Chaika, a low-profile supporter of judicial reform.
"In two years' time, we could see the Prosecutor General's Office as an open, transparent agency with clear rules of the game," he said.
