| The State Duma and Central Election Commission conducted
a hearing on 19 October to discuss President Putin's 13 September proposal
to cancel gubernatorial elections and reorganize State Duma elections
along party lines, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 20 October.
According to the daily, members of the Duma's smaller factions and even
of parties that did not make it into the Duma were given an opportunity
to comment on the prospects for developing election legislation, although
"their opinions are not likely to influence the fate of the presidential
initiative." Communist Party head Gennadii Zuganov suggested his
own version of how to strengthen the "power vertical" by naming
presidential envoys to each region who would preserve the territorial
integrity of Russia, appoint local law-enforcement officials, and defend
citizen's rights.
Also speaking at the hearing, former State Duma Deputy Viktor
Sheinis (Yabloko) suggested legislation that might mitigate the "negative
consequences" of the contemplated reform, such as not increasing
the minimum number of members for a political party to be registered and
not increasing the ceiling for entry to the State Duma or local legislatures
beyond 5 percent of the total vote. Former State Duma Deputy Boris Nadezhdin
(Union of Right-Wing Forces) called upon members of regional legislatures,
some of whom were present at the hearing, to challenge the constitutionality
of the proposed changes in the Constitutional Court. Independent State
Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov also repeated his earlier criticism of the
reforms as unconstitutional. At the conclusion of the session, participants
could not adopt any recommendations that would be obligatory as Duma measures.
First Deputy Speaker Lyubov Sliska suggested holding an additional hearing
in November
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