Page 18 - RusRPTFeb20

2.7 ​Politics - misc
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted on January 29 to restore the full authority of the Russian delegation, ​dismissing most of the amendments and appeals led by the Ukrainian delegation to restrict its authority. The measure drew 96 votes in favor, mostly from the MPs of Western European countries, and 44 against, mostly from the MPs of Eastern European countries, the ​eurointegration.com.ua​ news site reported. The legislation stressed that Russia has made progress in its relations with PACE by renewing its financing and releasing Ukrainian sailors in October. At the same time, it accepted amendments that also stressed Crimea remains illegally annexed by Russia, and the requirements imposed on Russia related to its occupation remain relevant. Russian MP Piotr Tolstoy was elected to be among the assembly’s 20 vice presidents.
Russia has granted citizenship to more than 196,000 Ukrainians since simplifying the procedure for of acquiring a Russian passport ​for the residents of the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry. The figure includes 60,000 residents of Ukrainian-controlled areas who have become citizens, the ministry said, as reported by the Russian TASS news agency on January 1. Earlier on December 9, Russian Interior Minister Vladislav Kolokoltsev told the Interfax news agency that 125,000 Donbas residents had acquired Russian citizenship at that time. He also said that, since April, 160,000 Ukrainians had applied to receive Russian passports. That suggests that, in less than a month, 36,000 more Ukrainians applied for citizenship, while Russia granted around 71,000 passports over the course of 22 days. The Kyiv Post reported on January 2 that it could not confirm the figures reported by TASS or Interfax. Russian President Putin signed the decree implementing the simplified citizenship procedure on April 24, deeming it a humanitarian measure to help Donbas residents denied their basic human rights. Vladislav Surkov, a key presidential aide who reportedly oversees occupied Donbas, said the decision was “the duty of the Russian Federation to those speaking and thinking in Russian.”
If the 2021 Duma elections were held tomorrow, ​just three parties would make it into parliament via party lists​, a new report finds. The study, conducted by the Institute for Social, Economic and Political Research, projects that United Russia will receive 42-45% of the vote on party lists—roughly the amount targeted by party secretary Andrei Turchak. The Communist Party and Liberal Democratic Party—which have received on average 18% and 12.5% of the vote, respectively, in elections over the past two years—will also enter the Duma. While recent elections show that A Just Russia currently polls high enough at 7.7% to pass the 5% electoral threshold, its popularity has been declining. The report authors are unsure if the party will gain party list seats. In recent years, the popularity of unrepresented and new political parties—such as Yabloko, the Green Party, and the Party of Pensioners—has grown, up from a statistical error in 2015 to 9% today. Yet as these new parties lack access to administrative resources, Russian politics it seems will remain as stale as ever.
18​ RUSSIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com