| Shortly before the president delivered his annual address,
two innovations were announced which could fundamentally change the political
climate in Russia. Although these ideas are controversial, both have been
approved by the Kremlin - so they have every chance of being implemented.
No more independent Duma members
The first initiative entails electing all 450 members of the Duma solely
via party lists. The main argument in favour is that a proportional system
will help make parties stronger. Moreover, as a senior official from the
presidential administration told us, "majority system elections have
turned into a contest of money and connections."
Not everyone agrees. Independent Duma member Vladimir Ryzhkov says:
"Opinion polls indicate that only 1% to 3% of citizens have any confidence
in parliament. And if single- mandate districts - that is, a direct link
between Duma members and voters - are abolished, the Duma's authority
will fall even lower. Where will people turn for help if there are no
independent Duma members? To their local branch of United Russia? What's
more, places on party lists were sold during last year's elections. A
purely proportional system would make elections even more corrupt."
Political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky says the regime is aiming to
neutralize possible public discontent with impending social reforms. "The
protest vote in single-mandate districts might bring some unpredictable
politicians into parliament in 2007." But abandoning the majority
system is even more dangerous, says Belkovsky: "In a parliament with
no independent members, parties would be even more illusory than they
are now. They would be virtual political formations, owing their representation
in the
Duma solely to the Kremlin. And then no one at all would be interested
in the next elections. Putin would have to confront social protest on
his own."
The luxury of referenda
The new draft law on referenda, submitted by the president, has proved
no less controversial. Until now, initiating a referendum only required
forming an initiative group of at least 100 citizens and collecting 2
million signatures within three months.
The amended version of the law will require 100 citizens in at least
45 regions to collect in only 45 days 2 million signatures. It also includes
a list of issues which may not be the subject of a referendum. This point
is what the opposition dislikes most of all; the Communist Party (CPRF),
for example, wants to hold referenda to challenge the Land Code and other
laws.
Ivan Melnikov, deputy chairman of the CPRF Central Committee: "The
regime doesn't want to listen to political opponents, and now it doesn't
want to listen to the people's opinion either. The new procedures will
make it incredibly difficult to hold a referendum without approval from
above. This represents a restriction of democracy."
The Kremlin does not agree. The same Kremlin source says: "Remember
the outcry before the presidential election - people saying that the new
law made it impossible to collect the required number of signatures. And
what happened? Everyone who wanted to collect enough signatures succeeded
in doing so. It's the same with referenda. But we need to ensure that
referenda work for the benefit of the people as a whole and are not simply
used to serve the ambitions of individual politicians. With the law as
it stands, anyone can initiate a referendum. That isn't democracy - it's
a disgrace."
Actually, Russia's last referendum was not initiated by "just
anyone." President Boris Yeltsin was responsible for the referendum
which approved the Constitution in December 1993. There have been several
attempts to organize referenda since then - usually before elections.
In 1999, the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) promoted the idea of a referendum
on ending conscription. In 2001, YABLOKO promised a referendum on the
import of nuclear waste. In 2003, the CPRF proposed a referendum on land
ownership, housing payments, making pensions and wages at least equal
to the poverty line, and nationalizing the natural monopolies. Then the
Duma passed a ban on referenda in election years.
The new draft law is apparently intended to cool the fever of the opposition
once and for all.
Vyacheslav Volodin, Duma deputy speaker for the United Russia faction:
"Any issue put to the vote in a referendum needs to be of interest
to the residents of many regions. And some substantial organizational
efforts need to go into a referendum. This is a justified requirement,
since a referendum costs at least 2.8 million rubles."
Judging by these attitudes, the new draft law on referendums will be
passed by the Duma with no problems at all. And referenda will become
a "democratic luxury."
Meanwhile, demonstrations and rallies also seem to be turning into
a luxury. The relevant draft law was passed by the Duma in its second
reading the other day.
On the one hand, the requirement to request permission from the authorities
for any public gathering has been replaced with the milder requirement
of informing the authorities. And the list of places where demonstrations
and rallies are permitted has been expanded considerably. The original
version of the draft law excluded the vicinity of state and government
buildings.
On the other hand, the authorities can still decide to deny permission.
And even a sanctioned demonstration could be stopped by state officials,
on any number of pretexts. The demonstrators would have to disperse and
go home.
See also:
Human
Rights
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