Russia's liberal party told its charter contradicts law

Oct 26, 2006, 11:26 GMT

Moscow (dpa) - Yabloko, one of Russia's largest liberal political parties, has been warned its charter is illegal, officials said Thursday amid increasing pressure on opposition forces ahead of presidential elections in 2008.

Concluding an nationwide inspection of political parties and non-governmental organizations, the Federal Registration Service added that 16 of the country's 35 political parties would be denied registration. Three foreign non-governmental organizations had been rejected and another 23 must rework their applications.

The Yabloko violation stems from a party bylaw that prohibits new members not yet added to the party list from voting at party conferences, Galina Fokina, a top official at the service, told the news agency Interfax.

Fokina said the party would have to rewrite its charter if it were to be registered.

'We set a deadline for them, and there is only one way that they can address the violation - by changing the charter through convening a party congress,' the official said.

There was no immediate comment from Yabloko, which is led by former presidential candidate Grigory Yavlinsky and claims to have around 80,000 members. The party boasts 2 deputies in the State Duma, Russia's 450-person lower house of parliament, down from 45 in 1993.

The 16 other parties whose registration was rejected outright are mainly little-known groups like the Union of People for Education and Science or the Eurasian Union.

Fokina did not name the three foreign NGOs that had been refused registration, but she noted that Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders had not yet been granted permission to work in the country.

A year-old law on parties and recent legislation forcing non-governmental organizations to register with the state have caused concern that President Vladimir Putin's government is clamping down on opposition voices ahead of 2008 presidential elections.

Putin said Wednesday in a televised question-and-answer session that he would not run for a third term in 2008. The Russian Constitution limits the president to two consecutive terms, but many have called for an amendment to allow the popular leader to stay on.

In the run-up to the contest, smaller opposition parties were like Yabloko cited by the registration service for technicalities.

Earlier this week, former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov's Russian Popular Democratic Union was refused registration because the word 'union' in its name is a classification for certain types of non-commercial organizations, but not political parties.

Kasyanov said his party would continue to operate within the law.

Under a 2005 law, parties must have at least 50,000 members total and no less than 250 members in any of Russia's 89 regions, squeezing out smaller groups that would scatter a vote.

Meanwhile, the new player on Russia's stage, the Kremlin-connected Party of Life, gained steam with a mayoral victory in the Volga River city of Samara as it prepares to consume two formerly oppositional parties.

Fokina said the registration service would 'participate' in the parties' unification ceremony October 28.

The legislation on parties was joined this January by federal measures forcing all NGOs to register. The law, which was not publicized till a week after it was signed, also outlines a battery of reasons for which NGOs can be deprived of their legal status.

The registration process, Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry said on its web site Wednesday, 'takes place in a sufficiently free and open atmosphere, in accordance with similar practices in most democratic countries.'

Both the United States and European Union have criticized the process, voicing concern that it drowns out open political discourse.