The Government has examined the draft federal law submitted by State Duma deputies Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Yaroslav Nilov, and Vladimir Ovsyannikov, among others.

The draft law seeks to free candidates nominated by political parties represented in the Duma from the need to collect the signatures of deputies of the representative bodies of municipal entities, or those elected during the elections for the head of a municipal entity, as required for candidates looking to become the top official in a Russian region, i.e. the head of the top executive state power body in the region. Today, Article 18 of the federal law On the General Principles of Establishing Legislative (Representative) and Executive State Power Bodies of Russian Regions and the relevant provisions of Article 37 of the federal law On the Main Guarantees of the Election Rights of Russian Citizens and Their Right to Take Part in Referendums state that the nomination of a candidate to such a post must be supported by submitting the signatures of the deputies of the representative bodies of municipal entities, or those elected during the elections for the head of a municipal entity irrespective of whether he/she is nominated by a political party or he/she is an independent candidate.

It should be noted that any political party that has received the required number of votes in the federal elections does not have to obtain sufficient support in any specific region or in the municipal entities to be represented in the Duma. Thus, if this draft law is approved, a candidate nominated by this party would have an unjustified advantage over other candidates. This would establish conditions for violating the constitutional principle of ensuring the equal and free access of citizens looking to serve the state and participate in the work of local governments. It should also be noted that Article 18 of the federal law On the General Principles of Establishing Legislative (Representative) and Executive State Power Bodies of Russian Regions and Article 37 of the federal law On the Main Guarantees of the Election Rights of Russian Citizens and Their Right to Take Part in Referendums, which regulate the relevant procedure for nominating candidates as the top official of a region, were amended by federal law No 40-FZ dated May 2, 2012. The amendments entered into force on June 1, 2012. Therefore, the practice of enforcing the provisions of these laws has not yet been formed and amendments to them would be premature.

The Government does not support this draft law on the basis of the above arguments.