Electoral blocs could be outlawed

A bill banning blocs from taking part in elections, drafted by several Communist MPs, was posted Friday, December 14, on the Parliament’s web-page. The bill proposes striking the notion of “electoral blocs” and all related provisions from the Electoral Code. The draft contains a series of other amendments to the Code, most of them satisfying earlier requests made by the Central Election Commission. One of them introduces the notion of electoral advertising through mobile phones and Internet, placing it under the same provisions as electoral advertising in print media. The bill also empowers the Central Election Commission to issue warnings for violations of the Code’s articles to the candidates and subsequently request their removal from the race. The legislators also suggest introducing an explicit list of candidates that must suspend their main job activities during the election campaign, including members of Cabinet, Members of Parliament, district chairmen and deputy chairmen, mayors and deputy mayors, city district heads and deputy heads. The bill left out the proposal of the Central Election Commission to establish the order of registering electoral candidates by drawing lots.