Penza, 17 January 2012. PenzaNews. Direct elections of heads of Russian regions will increase their responsibility to voters. Governor of the Penza region Vasily Bochkarev made this statement when commenting on the bill that would revive the direct elections of heads of federal units. The bill was just submitted to the State Duma by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

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“In this case there will be new relations between an elected head of the region and its residents – voters,” Vasily Bochkarev said in an interview with “Interfax-Volga”.

In his opinion, an elected governor will work “with greater concern” for the people and will be perfectly entitled to raise the “demands” of his voters before federal authorities if necessary.

Vasily Bochkarev also stressed that he is familiar with this system as he was elected head of the Penza region twice.

In addition, the regional head considers the transfer of broader powers to elected heads of regions to be the main requirement for gubernatorial elections.

“That these powers are supported by resources, in particular, an ability to retain collected taxes within the region, is key. In this case an elected governor can be properly accountable for his actions to satisfy the demands of the people who elected him,” said Vasily Bochkarev.

At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility that elected governors could be recalled for failure to carry out their duties before the people.

“If an elected governor fails to meet people’s expectations, the people have the right to demand his resignation,” concluded Vasily Bochkarev.