Parliament of South Ossetia tightens registration rules of parties

The Parliament of South Ossetia has passed a law prescribing the minimum number of party members. Now, for registration of a political party, it needs to have at least 500 members.

The Parliament amended the draft law of the Republic of South Ossetia "On Political Parties" on July 17, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Earlier, the minimum number party members needed for registration was 300.

The amendments were initiated by the faction "People's Unity". According to Vladimir Kelekhsaev, the leader of the party, the toughening of the registration rules "will automatically cut off a number of parties, which become active only during parliamentary elections."

The adopted amendments restrict the development of non-parliamentary parties, said Alexander Pliev, the leader of the People's Party.

In his turn, Anatoly Bibilov, the Speaker of the Parliament, said that "the new rules are not directed against specific parties and have nothing to do with future elections."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.