The Federation Council of Russia has passed the bill on simplification of formation of political parties. It reduces the minimum party size in order to run for parliament from 40,000 to 500 members, RIA Novosti reports.
Experts say the country will have hundreds of new parties registered in the near future.
Sergey Stepashin, head of the Chamber of Accounts, said that the Russian political system can only process 4-5 political parties, others will have to be neglected.
Andrey Kazantsev, Director of the Analytical Center of MGIMO, warned Vestnik Kavkaza that the initiative will provoke separatism in regions, especially the unstable North Caucasus. He noted the presence of separatist movements in Bashkyria and Tatarstan, which were legalized by their local authorities.
But on the other hand, legalizing the right for people to express their position on certain issues reduces the risk of their becoming terrorists or extremists. Dialogue smooths positions, as was the case in Chechnya, Kazantsev says.
The bill on simplification of formation of political parties was introduced to the parliament on December 23rd 2011, and was passed in the first reading on February 28th 2012, and in the second on March 20th. Parties get 3 months to put all their documents in order to be registered. Parties are disbanded if they do not take part in elections for 7 years, compared with 5 stated in the old law.
