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Election Campaigns Off to a Slow Start
Russian President Vladimir Putin's order setting the date of the elections to the State Duma and kicking off the campaign season was signed on September 2, the latest day allowed by law. It will only be published in the official Rossiiskaya gazeta newspaper today, however, according to the paper's website. Assistant editor-in-chief of that publication Timofei Kuznetsov explained that the government courier service did not provide a copy of the order earlier. Under federal law, the order must be published within five days of signing.
Thus, the Kremlin has maximally shortened election campaigning. The law also allows for the order to be signed as early as the middle of August. The unofficial election campaign, which began in the spring, was also hindered by the dispute between the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Central Elections Commission. The FAS banned political billboards, restricting the time parties had to post them and the content of them.
Amendments to election laws passed in 2003 reduced the length of campaigns from 150 days to 80-110. Amendments introduced by the presidential administration in 2005 reduced the time when election material was allowed in the media to 28 days. Previously, the period had been flexible, depending on when parties filed their documents with the CEC. Members of the opposition note that the current political mood in the country suits the Kremlin, which wants to preserve it and avoid the emergence of possible scandals.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 05, 2007
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