"Patriots of Russia" believe that Dagestan needs two-house parliament

The October 29 session of Dagestani Parliament passed amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Dagestan (RD) and the Law "On Elections of People's Assembly of Dagestan". Under the amendments, the number of seats in the parliament will go up from 72 to 90.

Mustafa Genzhekhanov, Head of the Legal Office at the RD President, said in his comment on the amendments that "this will improve representation of all territories and nationalities of Dagestan, which is crucial for the republic."

The faction of the regional branch of the Party "Patriots of Russia", which has four MPs, abstained at voting. As explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Eduard Khidirov, head of the branch of "Patriots of Russia" in the People's Assembly, by abstaining at voting the faction members expressed their attitude to the adopted amendments.

According to the faction leader, a two-house parliament would be ideal for Dagestan. Professional MPs could be members of one house, while representatives of various nations and territories could constitute the second one.

Mr Khidirov disagrees with the provision of the law that mandates are distributed based on percentage ratios rather than according to the number of votes. "It breaks the basic principle of democratic elections, where the weight of every vote should be equal," he explained.