CEC Urges Parties to Display "Civilized Approach" to Elections

Alexander Veshnyakov, the head of Russia's Central Electoral Commission, has appealed to the country's political parties to display "a civilised approach" to the parliamentary elections.

"It is time to get rid of wild capitalistic methods," he said at a conference with representatives of the country's major political parties.

He reminded the assembly that the justice ministry had registered about 50 political parties and that the parties had held 70 constituent or reformative congresses. About 30 political parties, all of them registered by the justice ministry and having branches in more than half of the country's regions, had already been authorised to take part in the election campaign, he said.

Speaking about election laws, Veshnyakov said they would be fully renovated by the summer months, after the country would have enacted amendments to several of them, with the main purpose being "the strengthening of the role and responsibility of political parties in the process of elections" and "getting rid of the negative moments reported during the previous election campaign." The conference gathered representatives of the majority of political parties and officials from the justice ministry and law enforcing authorities.