«Dmitry Medvedev brought project of the Federal law “About elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation» into the State Duma, informs official site of the president. The boy said – the boy did. Though his deed is small enough...
There are only two essential changes - to lower threshold of passing to the Duma to 5 percent and to release all registered parties from petition (now only parliamentary parties are released).
No returning to majority system, even in the reduced by half form though it is dictated by corresponding article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation will happen even in plans. We still will elect not deputies, but party lists. Restrictions on publications of network editions during elections are being entered.
In the explanatory note to the bill there is mysterious phrase: «Taking into account change of the requirements to the minimum number of political parties and expected in this connection increase in number of political parties which will struggle for deputy mandates during elections of the deputies of the State Duma».
Actually, they spoke about simplification of requirements from the Ministry of Justice to the parties as about solved matter. But they also said that it doesn't mean simplification of registration as that - it is possible to refuse at the threshold of 500 people, if there’s such desire. In the country where there are no independent courts, where there is no independent public prosecutor's supervision, but there is mysterious "Ministry of Justice" – everything’s possible. And even more.
Situation with the number of the registered parties is cleared up by the phrase from the same explanatory note: «... more than ten federal lists of candidates could be registered at the elections of deputies of the State Duma. In this case only names of political parties and their emblem (as ballot paper processing system has restrictions on the length of the ballot) are also placed into the ballots...»
That is technical imperfection of the ballot paper processing system becomes the reason of sharp reduction of the number of the registered parties? Now there are only 7 parties. It is possible to increase their number up to ten without changing technics. Does it seem ridiculous?
By no means. After events of autumn, 1993 the Moscow City Council where the quantity of the elects is restricted by mysterious number 35 appeared instead of the Moscow Council with five hundreds deputies. Why? After all in the majority of subjects of the Federation smaller on number, than Moscow, there are 50 deputies. After annexation by the capital mayoralty of a historical building of the Moscow Council on Tverskaya, 13 a problem where to place such "powerless body" appeared. The choice fell on the building of the former Sverdlovsk district committee of the CPSU - good building, but only 35 deputies could be provided there with separate offices. That’s how we received such odd amount. It’s a well-known in narrow circles of capital officials fact.
But if the number of deputies of capital parliament can be limited by building volume, why the number of political parties in the country can't be dictated by throughput of the ballot paper processing system?
Now I know, why Medvedev will be again appointed the president after Putin – so that not to buy the yacht for next "petty star", not to repair new palace for him and so on. It’s quite economically to have only one pair of underwear for change... Excuse me, one "successor".
Mitya-president confirmed it at a meeting with representatives of the allowed political parties in Gorky, having declared literally: «I am not going to leave and moreover, I am going to stand in presidents. I will meet you with pleasure within the limits of presidential campaign for debating».
It literally means that the structure of interlocutors of Mitya-president in 6 years will change rather slightly. Well, at least they think so...
Anatoly Baranov, editor-in-chief of FORUM.msk
