The problem of the adoption of the Law “On Political Parties” in the second half of the 1990s

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of adopting the law “On Political Parties” in the second half of the 1990s. Based on a study of various sources, the author attempts to finalize this law after it was rejected by the Federation Council in early 1996. The adoption of this law was dictated by the need to exclude numerous non-political organizations from the electoral process. The total participation of these organizations in the 1995 parliamentary elections led to conflicting results and cast doubt on the effectiveness of the majorityproportional electoral system. Howevear, despite the intentions of the deputies, who, it would seem, were interested in the speedy adoption of this normative act, work on the document had stalled. The reasons that did not allow the adoption of this document again were in several factors. This is, firstly, an extremely difficult political situation in which the Duma of the second convocation acted, constantly standing on the verge of dissolution. Secondly, a significant amount of legislative work was influenced, which the opposition Duma was forced to carry out under constant time pressure. Thirdly, deputies feared that this law would be used against opposition parties. However, the decisive factor, which for decades did not allow achieving results, was the absence in Russia of strong parties and a developed party system. On the other hand, the refusal to fix the special rights and obligations of political parties in a special law can be considered as a feature of the Russian constitutional law of the 1990s. The then legislation allowed not only ideological, but also organizational pluralism for numerous socio-political associations.