President Medvedev signed bill on political parties into law

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today signed the bill on political parties into law, Ekho Moskvy reports.

The bill makes registering a political party much easier, with only 500 supporters required to form a party.

The extraparliamentary opposition criticizes the bill, saying it won't prevent the authorities from banning the registration of new parties. Vladimir Ryzhkov from the opposition People's Freedom Party says lawmakers didn't take into consideration the opposition's proposals.

The opposition suggested that parties should be registered without any governmental permission.