MOSCOW, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Russia's upper house of parliament elected an ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as its speaker on Wednesday, in a vote that gave a former St Petersburg governor the highest post to be held by a woman in post-Soviet Russia.
Lawmakers in the 166-seat Federation Council approved Valentina Matviyenko, 62, in a 140-0 vote with one abstention.
The Federation Council is largely seen as a rubber-stamp body that approves laws passed by the State Duma lower house. Both parliament chambers are dominated by Putin’s United Russia party.
Matviyenko replaces Sergei Mironov, leader of the rival Just Russia party, who was ousted from the speaker’s post in May.
To join the Federation Council, Matviyenko had to step down as governor of St. Petersburg, where she had become unpopular. Removing her from that job could help the ruling party in St. Petersburg in elections for the Duma on Dec. 4.
Polls suggest Putin’s party may have trouble retaining its two-thirds Duma majority in the December vote, which precedes a March presidential vote in which he is expected to return to the Kremlin or back President Dmitry Medvedev for re-election.
"The ruling tandem (of Putin and Medvedev) needs an extremely loyal person in the post of Federation Council speaker" ahead of the elections, political analyst Alexei Mukhin said on Ekho Moskvy radio.
Matviyenko said later on Wednesday that authorities would consider introducing a system under which Federation Council members would be elected rather than appointed, in line with Kremlin promises of gradual, moderate democratic reform.
"This is a possibility, but it is one variant. We will continue to think about it," she said in a state TV interview.
The Interfax news agency quoted her as saying such a change could be legislated next year.
Medvedev, who was expected to meet Matviyenko on Thursday, has also suggested Federation Council members could be elected in the future.
They are now appointed by regional administrations and legislatures, a system introduced in the first year of Putin’s 2000-2008 presidency and seen by his critics as one of several steps to consolidate power and curtail democracy.
