140 Russian parties apply for registration

Moscow, April 20 (IANS/RIA Novosti) More than 140 political parties in Russia have lined up for registration, an official said. Russia currently has seven officially registered parties.

"So far 143 political parties have sent their registration applications to the ministry of justice," said Vladimir Pligin, chairman of the State Duma Committee for Constitutional Legislation.

"Therefore, Russia may soon have 150 participants of the political process," he said.

A new law on registration of political parties came into force in April.

The law, which was passed by wide majorities in both houses of parliament, reduced the membership requirement for registering a party to 500 people from the previous 40,000.

It also abolished the requirement for parties to collect voter signatures in order to take part in elections.

In 1999, a total of 169 parties participated in the elections to the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament. But only seven lived to participate in two latest elections after the Kremlin tightened rules in 2005, obliging parties to have a minimum of 40,000 members nationwide.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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