Russian Elections

EDM number 135 in 1993-94, proposed by Ken Livingstone on 30/11/1993.

That this House believes that Russian parliamentary elections and the referendum on President Yeltsin's proposed new constitution on 12th December violates the conditions for democracy in that Yeltsin has declared that political broadcasts on television cannot be used to criticise his draft constitution which is opposed by eight of the 13 parties taking part in the election, that the head of Yeltsin's legal department has threatened that any candidate criticising the draft constitution could be deemed to have put themselves outside the parliamentary election, that television coverage of the election and referendum is universally acknowledged to be grossly biased in favour of the President and government, and that the Russian government is attempting to have the constitution passed by a fraud whereby Yeltsin's decree that 50 per cent. of the electorate must participate in the referendum for it to be adopted, is to be met by a ruling that anyone who votes in the parliamentary election will be automatically declared to have also voted in the referendum, whether they wish to participate in the referendum or not; further calls on Her Majesty's Government to convey to the Russian government the view that democratic elections and a democratic referendum require freedom of speech on the constitution, fair and balanced coverage on television of the views of all parties in the election and referendum and separate registration of voters for the elections and referendum.

This motion has been signed by a total of 30 MPs.