He exemplified his point in a Novosti interview by quoting the USA, Germany and Belgium.
Mr. Toporovsky sees proportional representation as the truest possible reflection of the electorate's opinions. "It is the cleanest and the most efficient of all election arrangements, and so suits Russia the best. It does not curb the public opinion."
A change of principles on which to elect parliaments is nothing extraordinary in Europe, suffice it to mention France, with three occasions on which it U-turned its election system over the preceding fifteen years. When Socialists came to office, France shifted to proportional representation as best reflecting the majority's opinions, pointed out the political expert.
Election barriers for political parties to enter parliament rule out instability in the election system, he added. These thresholds vary from country to country. Greece, for instance, has it at 25 per cent of votes.
The European Parliament follows the proportional representation pattern for its formation, irrespective of systems practised in particular European Union countries.
As for a mixed pattern that was introduced in Russia in the early 1990s to combine party tickets and constituency votes, Mr. Toporovsky has the following explanation for it: inventors of the new election system made it a point to take into account the entire global experience. So they were borrowing random parts of many countries' systems. What we Russians have as the result of their efforts is a fruit salad of a great many nations' achievements.
