Press Release, 28.10.2021

Photo by the Press Service of the Pskov branch of Yabloko

The Pskov branch of Yabloko proposed to the Regional Assembly to send a request to the Constitutional Court about the violation of the electoral rights of the so-called “foreign agents” and persons associated with them. The MPs rejected this initiative by a majority of votes: three parliamentarians voted “for”, 14 “against”, and one abstained.

Arthur Gaiduk and Lev Shlosberg submitted to the regional parliament a draft request to the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of the provisions of federal laws on labeling organisations and persons affiliated with them “foreign agents” in electoral laws and recognising them as discriminatory and violating the principle of equality of candidates.

The explanatory note to the draft request states that the Constitution of the RF does not contain any restrictions on the rights of candidates, including those recognised as “foreign agents”: “The selection of a group of candidates with the status of a foreign agent (or affiliated with foreign agents) from the general category of candidates has no objective and reasonable justification for electoral legal relations, violates the provisions of Article 19 of the Constitution (All are equal before the law and the court. 2. The state guarantees equality rights and freedoms of man and citizen regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude to religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, as well as other circumstances).”

At the session of the Assembly, the draft request was presented by Artur Gaiduk, MP of the Pskov Regional Assembly. Andrei Makovsky, a deputy from the New People party, who previously worked as deputy head of the intior policy department of the Administration of the Pskov region, asked him a question: “The bill was submitted jointly with Lev Shlosberg. But there is information in the media that Lev Shlosberg met with foreign diplomats. And here is the question: did Lev Shlosberg consult with foreign diplomats before this initiative?”

Artur Gaiduk replied that he did not have such information, so it was pointless to answer the question. The New People’s deputy voted against the draft request.

It should be noted that on 25 May, deputies of the regional parliament included the concepts of “foreign agent” and “a person affiliated with a foreign agent” in the Electoral Code of the Pskov region. The amendments copy the norms of the Federal Law No. 91-FZ, which, according to the Yabloko faction, violates the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

From nowon a candidate performing the functions of a “foreign agent”, or a candidate affiliated with a person performing the functions of a “foreign agent”, must indicate this information in the statement of consent to stand for election, in signature lists signed by voters in favour of such a candidate 9in accordance with the law obliging candidates to collect voters’ signatures in their favour so that to be registered in the campaign) and in all campaign materials (up to 15% of the total printed area and mandatory indication of this status in all other campaign materials); in addition, this is indicated in all official campaign information and ballot papers.

Earlier, deputies from the Pskov Yabloko already made two attempts to prevent such changes to be made to the Electoral Code of the Pskov Region and first proposed to the Assembly an alternative draft resolution rejecting the regional draft law and sending a request to the Constitutional Court, but Alexander Kotov, Chairman of the Assembly and a member of the ruling United Russia party, refused to include the alternative draft decision in the agenda. Then the Yabloko deputies introduced an alternative draft of amendments to the Electoral Code of the region, excluding the concepts of “foreign agent” and “person affiliated with a foreign agent”, but this draft was not included by the Chairman in the agenda either.

After that, Artur Gaiduk and Lev Shlosberg submitted to the Assembly a draft request to the Constitutional Court, which was not included in the agenda of the Assembly until the end of the term of office of the Assembly of the previous convocation and was considered only at the October session by the Assembly of the new convocation.

LEV SHLOSBERG

is a member of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko and

Chair of the Pskov regional branch of the party.

Head of the Yabloko faction in the Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies