Chairwoman of The Federation Council
On 22 August 2011, soon after completion of the Saint Petersburg Dam along with the Saint Petersburg Ring Road, Matviyenko resigned from the office of the governor of Saint Petersburg. Georgy Poltavchenko was appointed as acting governor in her place. She was backed by President Dmitry Medvedev as a candidate to head the Federal Assembly or Upper House of the Russian Federation.The previous speaker of the Federation Council, Sergey Mironov, was recalled in May after criticising Matviyenko's handling of Saint Petersburg. The leader of A Just Russia party, Mironov was ousted by the majority United Russia and replaced by an acting speaker Alexander Torshin.
As a member of United Russia party, Matviyenko stood in a municipal election in August in order to have legal possibilities to attain the office in the Federation Council. She won the municipal election with more than 95% of the vote, despite having 18% approval rating in July, for which she was criticized by the opposition.
On 21 September 2011 she was elected the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation by 140 votes with one abstention and none cast against. It is the third-highest elected office in Russia and the highest political position ever attained by a woman in Russia since the time of Empress Catherine the Great.
Read more about this topic: Valentina Matviyenko
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