Interfax: Russian ministry explains suspension of Navalny party registration

(Interfax – Moscow, January 22, 2014) The state registration of People’s Alliance, political party of [anticorruption campaigner and protest leader] Aleksey Navalnyy’s supporters has been suspended over the similarity of names with the [pundit] Andrey Bogdanov’s political organization, procedural violations during [the party’s constituent] congress as well as poor paperwork, the press service for the Russian Justice Ministry has said.

“On 30 December 2013, Russian Justice Ministry received the documents submitted by the People’s Alliance political party (of Aleksey Navalnyy – Interfax) for state registration upon its establishment,” said the press service’s statement that was received by Interfax on Wednesday [22 January] upon its request.

According to the statement, as a result of consideration of the submitted documents, “it was established that the party had violated certain provisions of the current legislation.”

In particular, according to the Ju! stice Ministry, “the party’s name, including the short one, is similar to the extent of confusion to the name of a separate political party, the information about which can be found in the single state register of legal entities, the All-Russia political party People’s Alliance (of Andrey Bogdanov – Interfax).”

“In violation of the federal law On political parties, the decisions of the party congress on the election of the central council and the central control and revision commission, held on 17 November 2013, were made by open and not secret vote,” the statement said.

Moreover, the press service added, “the party did not fulfil certain requirements as regards the paperwork.”

“In connection with this, the Russian Justice Ministry ordered suspension of the state registration of the party upon its establishment on 17 January 2014,” the press service said.

[Passage omitted to end].