| The liberal party Yabloko and the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation (KPRF) have brought a suit to the Supreme Court against the Russian Central Election
Commission. They are contesting the results of the parliamentary elections
in December 2003. The members of the liberal Committee 2008: Free Choice
have joined the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs claim that the Commission did not detect evident violations
and approved the protocol and resolution on the distribution of MP's mandates,
Interfax news agency reports.
They claimed that the pro-Kremlin party United Russia, which received
over two-thirds of parliamentary seats, was supported by the state administration.
State media, primarily television channels, worked in favor of United
Russia far more than for other parties.
United Russia had 642 minutes of airtime, Yabloko 197, the press release
of the Committee 2008 said. Seven parties received no television airtime
whatsoever. The plaintiffs also claim that the Election Commission added
hundreds of thousands of spare voting papers to guarantee the necessary
voter turnout and additional votes for one of the parties.
The plaintiffs added that 37 members of the United Russia election list
had rejected MP's mandates but the mandates were not spread among all
the parties but remained with United Russia. Those members were governors and federal ministers. The plaintiffs
claimed that their refusal to enter the State Duma, the lower house of
the Russian parliament, was a violation of Russian law and that the voters had been deceived.
The press release also said that electioneering in favor of United Russia
and against the KPRF began on November 7, before the official start.
On December 7, 2003, United Russia received 37.57% of the vote and formed
a majority in the State Duma, their new parliamentary faction consisting
of 306 deputies. The party leader and former minister of the interior,
Boris Gryzlov, was elected the House speaker. The other three parties
that managed to enter the Duma were the KPRF with 12.61% of the vote and
52 deputies, the LDPR with 11.45% of the vote and 36 deputies, and Motherland
with 9.02% of the vote and 38 deputies. 15 MPs are independent and do
not belong to any particular parliamentary group.
The two Russian parties with democratic programs - Yabloko and SPS (Union
of Right-WingForces) - failed to pass the 5% threshold. Several top members
of those parties have joinedCommittee 2008
See also:
State Duma elections
2003
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