ABSTRACT
For Russia the years 2001-6 were years of all-encompassing political reform that fundamentally changed not only the federal but also the regional political process. The main features of the reform that affected the political process in the regions were:
• election of at least half the deputies to regional parliaments through a proportional electoral system (this rule became obligatory for elections held after 13 June 2003);
• changes in the composition of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Federal Assembly (from 2001, instead of the governors and chairmen of regional legislative assemblies who were members of the Federation Council as part of their position, two representatives were appointed from each region, one by the governor and one by the legislative assembly, and in this way the heads of the regions lost their parliamentary immunity);
• the gradual raising of the threshold for party lists to 7 per cent; • a ban on the existence of regional political parties, followed by a ban on
the formation of pre-election blocs (so that parties unable to meet the 7 per cent threshold would be prevented from joining forces);
• the abolition of direct gubernatorial elections.
