|
Putin Proposes Stringent New Electoral Rules
Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted a proposal to the State Duma to change the electoral law of the country, the Kremlin press service reports.The amendments to the current legislation are the result of a planned move from a mixed to a purely proportional representation electoral system. But experts say that voters in Russia's regions will be able to elect a certain number of candidates, distributed proportionally among parties accordingly to the quantity of votes received in each region, only in 20-30 years' time. The draft stipulates that coalitions during elections will also be banned, and if an elected deputy switches factions during a Duma term he risks losing his seat. The draft would also reduce the number of invalid voters' signatures allowed when preparing an application to stand in an election from 25 to 5 percent of the necessary 200,000. The state financing of the leading parties will be significantly increased as of Jan. 1, 2006. Moreover, the president suggests making the second Sunday of March the unified day for elections of all levels. The first Sunday of October was given as a reserve day. During the consideration of the amendments in the lower house of the parliament Putin's point of view will be presented by the chairman of the Central Election Commission Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-04-14 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=61449 |