Yesterday, members of the “Committee 2008: Free Choice” announced that they would challenge the

Yesterday, members of the “Committee 2008: Free Choice” announced that they would challenge the results of the 2003 Duma elections in the Supreme Court. A collective lawsuit with claims to the Central Election Commission will go to court next week. The plaintiffs' main complaint is that political parties did not have equal access to the media during the campaign. In addition, the Supreme Court will have to determine whether seats in the Duma were correctly distributed between the parties that overcame the five percent threshold. According to the “committee members,” the Central Election Commission did not have the right to transfer the mandates of the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu and the mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, who occupied second and third places on the United Russia list, but refused seats in the Duma, to other candidates from the same party. The Central Election Commission believes that they acted according to the law, since holding “public positions” is a “compelling circumstance” for refusing a mandate. However, as the plaintiffs themselves admit, they do not count on the election results being overturned. For example, the deputy chairman of Yabloko, Sergei Ivanenko, said that he would consider it a success if, as a result of the trial, “maybe the switchmen, but those people who committed violations” were punished.
VIKTOR Kommersant-Khamraev

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 161 dated 01.09.2004, p. 2

Authors:

Victor Khamraev

Democrats want to cancel the results of the State Duma elections