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Press release, 12.05.2000

 

Vladimir Lukin advocates preservation of the mixed system of parliamentary elections

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Vladimir Lukin (Yabloko faction) thinks that the country currently lacks the requisite conditions for the election of Duma deputies by means of the majority system only, i.e. only in single-mandate electoral districts.

In an interview with journalists that took place on May 12, 2000, he expressed his opinion that the holding of elections according to the mixed system (250 deputies elected in single-mandate electoral districts and 250 deputies on party lists) is the optimal solution for Russia at the present stage.

Commenting on Vladimir Putin’s preference for the majority voting system Vladimir Lukin noted that “every country undergoing a transitional period … chooses such a system that could promote the creation of political parties and civil society rather than a system based on an absolute majority.”

According to Lukin, such a system functions in Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey. Lukin also noted that in his opinion the institutions of a civil society in Russia are only at a fledgling stage. Speaking about the Federation Council, he said that “there is a problem”. The upper chamber must represent the regions with elected deputies, “two deputies from each region, as in the United States”, noted Lukin.

Based on Interfax reports