The Kremlin and the government will draft bills introducing direct gubernatorial elections and a revised system of parliamentary representation by mid-February, President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Wednesday.
The new system would split the country into 225 electoral districts, which, Medvedev said, would eliminate the current situation where some of the 83 regions have no representatives in the lower chamber, Vesti state television .
Medvedev did not elaborate, but Gazeta.ru last week that each district would likely elect two deputies to the State Duma.
The system, invented in 1989 by aides of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, stands to benefit only the two biggest parties in the country — currently United Russia and the Communists — while robbing the smaller ones of representation, St. Petersburg-based political analyst Grigory Golosov told the online daily.
Both the direct gubernatorial elections and proportional representation system were abolished during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's presidential tenure between 2000 and 2008.
His ally and successor Medvedev promised to roll back Putin's reforms last week in his state-of-the-nation address, which came after tens of thousands gathered in Moscow for biggest opposition protests since 1993 to protest United Russia's widely questioned victory at the Duma elections on Dec. 4.
Medvedev last week also ordered that registration thresholds for political parties and presidential candidates, also introduced under Putin, be drastically lowered. But the changes would only come into effect after the presidential elections in March, which Putin is poised to win.
Medvedev also issued a raft of other orders on Wednesday, including a proposal for creating public television, possibly based on one of the state-owned channels, which was also among the ideas he put forth in his state-of-the-nation address.
He also ordered new anti-corruption measures, including control over large expenses of officials and obliging more state employees to disclose their income declarations, the Kremlin's web site . Deadlines for the orders range from mid-February to July.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.