"What the Public Chamber is going to be is the theme of public discussion. Ours is a presidential republic and a status for the chamber will very much depend on how close it is to the president", Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the Politics Fund, told the round table.
In his opinion, the Public Chamber could be a sort of expert centre for laws to be adopted and undertake public examination of cases of importance to society.
"No, it should not make changes in the constitution but a law clearly fixing the functions of the chamber should be adopted. The higher the legal status, the better", Nikonov added.
On the contrary, chairman of the Russian business coordination council Alexander Shokhin believes that the Public Chamber should not be set up under the president or the parliament.
"A relative autonomy for the Public Chamber would be better. It could be formed both by the president and both the parliamentary chambers according to the quota principle. The president could form his quota according to the Wise Men's Council principle", Shokhin thinks.
He also proposed for the Public Chamber to "focus on law-making".
Vladimir Platonov, head of the Moscow City Duma, is convinced that there must be no law on the Public Chamber - each region is entitled to set up such a body on its own discretion.
"In Moscow, it could be an expert council at the City Duma, a mechanism intending that an initiative backed by 50,000 Muscovite signatories is to be considered in parliament. To me, there is no need in changing legislation, more so the constitution", Platonov said.
