Posted on 06/29/2005 10:57:47 PM PDT by familyop
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's parliament on Wednesday approved on second reading a raft of amendments to election rules, which critics say would further tighten the Kremlin's grip on power if implemented. If introduced, the changes, proposed by President Vladimir Putin, would ban political parties merging into blocs to stand in elections and scrap the "against all" option, used as a protest vote, on ballot papers in regional polls.
Putin has been accused by opponents and some Western governments of endangering democracy through sweeping political reforms he said were needed after last year's deadly Beslan school siege carried out by Chechen rebels. "From June 29 any elections held in Russia can only be called elections in quotation marks," said opposition deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov. "Election law has been rewritten to suit the needs of the authorities," he said.
The changes to the election law follow Putin's abolition of gubernatorial elections to make regional leaders Kremlin appointees instead.
New rules on elections to the State Duma lower house of parliament and on forming political parties -- which effectively bar small parties and independent candidates from the chamber -- have already been passed by legislators.
Putin says reform is needed to create more effective instruments for governing his sprawling country which stretches across 11 time zones.
The latest amendments to the election law must pass a third reading before being sent for approval to the Federation Council upper house of parliament, after which Putin must sign them into law.
The Kremlin-controlled United Russia party holds two thirds of seats in the Duma, enough to pass legislation single-handedly.
==This is typical scare mongering and russophobia.
Russia and China's anti-American posture is becoming increasingly difficult to defend, don't you think?:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1434721/posts
"The Kremlin-controlled United Russia party holds two thirds of seats in the Duma, enough to pass legislation single-handedly."
I am not aware of any efforts in the US to ban third parties or third pary candidates. The vast majority of third party candidates lose, but they are not prevented from running. Putin's Unity party is attempting to ban third parties altogether.
jb6 writes "Typical Lie. The other parties have and equal chance"
(From article) "If introduced, the changes, proposed by President Vladimir Putin, would ban political parties merging into blocs to stand in elections..."
Maybe I'm missing something, but it certainly sounds like Putin is trying to ban third parties to me.
No he's banning parties unifying into blocks so that when you vote say democrat the socialists and greens also get your vote automatically. We have the exact same system.
Got the same thing in Poland.
Or how many third party Congressmen are there? Five?
In proportional voting system the percentage tresholds are almost necessary.
"No he's banning parties unifying into blocks so that when you vote say democrat the socialists and greens also get your vote automatically. We have the exact same system."
Please explain how we have the "exact same system."
==Got the same thing in Poland.
Poland bans small parties and independent candidates as well?
"Or how many third party Congressmen are there? Five?"
The point is, we have them. This is what they are trying to ban in Russia, and, if I understand your last post correctly, they have already done this in Poland.
To get into Sejm (Seym - Polish Diet or Parliament) you must have at least a certain percentage of the votes.
The purpose is to eliminate smaller parties. In proportional system of voting it is needed in order to prevent chaos and frequent changes of government. Similar tresholds are in Italy, Germany and other countries.
In countries with majority voting (USA, UK) even the third parties (not speaking about the forth of fifth) have great difficulty to enter the parlament. Fixed minorities are not represented at all unless they are segregated geografically (like Welsh in UK or blacks in some US districts). With majority system of voting you do not need tresholds to eliminate smaller parties.
Very few. For practical purposes the smaller parties have less chance in majoritarian system (US, UK etc) than in proportional systems with the treshold.
It means that Greens/Reform etc cannot run as a block . They either become one party or run separate.
No, if they do not get above the treshold they will not get any seats.
You see, the sleight of hand is word "effectively" in the deceptive phrase: "which effectively bar small parties".
"No, if they do not get above the treshold they will not get any seats."
What is the "threshhold" one must meet before qualifying for a seat?
I do not know the details of this plan. In Poland, the party has to have at least 5% and parties with the highest percentages get extra seats.
Otherwise in proportional system you get miriad of parties and very unstable governments. (It used to be so in Italy)
"Otherwise in proportional system you get miriad of parties and very unstable governments."
But was that really a problem in Russia?
Also, do you think the Kremlin is trying to tighten its grip (as the subtitle of this post implies)? Or do you think this is an innocent move on the part of Putin/Unity?
Yes. Russia was in chaos worse that France before founding of the Fifth Republic by Charles de Gaulle.
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