Parliamentary and local elections will take place next year on 29 November
Today Pridnestrovie's Supreme Council have approved on second and final readings the president's legislative initiative on amending the Electoral Code of the PMR. It is to be recalled that the amendments introduce a single voting day in Pridnestrovie for local council and parliamentary elections.
The presidential bill has been approved by 29 votes to 4.
Otherwise, Pridnestrovie would face two electoral campaigns next year: in March to local councils, and in December to the Supreme Council. The president's bill stipulates that both elections should be held on the single voting day - last Sunday in November.
According to the Ministry of Justice, over 10 million roubles were to be assigned for the parliamentary elections. The local elections would cost the same amount. The novel will help to save more than 7 million roubles, the Ministry of Justice estimates.
The explanatory note to the bill also says the single voting day was introduced in Russia, and Pridnestrovie has been on the way of harmonising its and Russia's legislations since 2006. This year Russia's regional and municipal leaders, as well as regional and local legislatures, were elected for the first time on the single voting day - 14 September. On 4 December 2011 some regions of Russia combined local, regional and parliamentary elections.
Among other amendments to the electoral legislation are the Constitution amendments providing for the professionalisation of the parliament and reduction in the number of MPs from 43 to 31. These initiatives are now before the Supreme Council and are to be considered on first reading at one of the nearest sessions.
Recall that now only 24 of 43 MPs work on a professional basis. Due to the unfavourable demographic situation, the electoral base has considerably changed. In 2001, when Pridnestrovie's parliament took its current form, there was one MP in 15, 000 electors, and now it is one in 12, 000.
