Alexander Ivanchenko, a former head of the election commission and now president of the Independent Election Institute, has commented to Novye Izvestiya on the new presidential initiatives in the following way: "This is the final accord in restoring the single party system and eliminating all the small parties. This is how the officials in the presidential administration understand the concept of the political system."
Mr. Ivanchenko also noted that cutting the minimum number of parties represented in the Duma to two provides for one dominating force, while the other party will merely fulfill a conventional role. According to the former election commission chairman, these measures were prompted by the deadlock in the latest regional elections, when the "against all candidates" option secured an indisputable victory. "If the multi-party system were to remain, United Russia would run the risk of failing to make it to the Duma at some point," he said. "Therefore, it will be kept there artificially."
Dmitry Oreshkin, the head of the Merkator think tank, is sure that "these changes in the election law will make the State Duma 'lame'. The canceled elections in single-mandate constituencies will deprive individual regions and territories of representation in parliament, despite the working theory that a party representative will be delegated to work in every region." The ban on political blocs, Mr. Oreshkin says, will prevent right-wing parties from uniting. "Considering the 7% margin, the right-wing parties that Vladislav Surkov (head of the presidential administration) once described as the fifth column [traitors] will be deprived of the opportunity to see their representatives in the Duma," the expert said. The reduced number of parties, he said, will leave parliament playing the role of "a decorative cog" in the system of state power.
