15 Jul 2019 15:45

Moscow Communists suggest candidates barred from elections go on faction's coordination council in Moscow City Duma

MOSCOW. July 15 (Interfax) - The Moscow branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) suggests that all candidates who have been barred from the Moscow City Duma elections go on the CPRF faction's coordination council, the bureau of the Moscow city committee said in a statement possessed by Interfax.

"We are telling all candidates whom the authorities have barred from the election: the CPRF is prepared to initiate the creation of an independent Coordination Council of candidates in the Communist faction in the Moscow City Duma," the statement said.

The CPRF also said it is ready to invite various political forces to participate in the work of such council

The party additionally criticized the signature filter that self-nominated candidates have to go through.

"A provision on the collection of signatures was deliberately included in the legislation to fight self-nominees, who do not represent the authorities. The collection procedure is extremely bureaucratic and is essentially a filter that allows barring self-nominees who do not suit the authorities from running in the election," the statement said.

An unauthorized rally for independent candidates' access, where, according to the Interior Ministry, 25 people were detained, was held in Moscow on July 14.

The CPRF also said it has problems with the campaign. The registration of Timur Abushayev, the party's candidate in Constituency 3, was cancelled by a court ruling, and the party believes this was done on a technicality.