MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. President Vladimir Putin has signed a law on rescheduling Russia's federal parliamentary elections in 2016 from December to the third Sunday of September.
The document, posted on the official portal of legal information Wednesday, includes amendments to Articles 5 and 102 of the law on elections of deputies of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Article 102 is added by a new provision saying that the elections of the State Duma deputies of the seventh convocation are due to take place on the third Sunday of September 2016.
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The new State Duma is to hold its first meeting no later than on the 30th day after its election.
Political scientists questioned by TASS have earlier called the date of the next parliamentary elections a compromise decision, which has allowed balancing the positions of the parties.
Russia’s Communist Party has earlier opposed the date saying it plans to challenge this in the Constitutional Court.
"After the president signs this law, we will collect signatures and turn to the Constitutional Court. It can correct this," the Communist Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov told TASS.
The draft law on shifting the elections was drawn up by the speaker of the lower house, Sergey Naryshkin, and the leaders of three factions Vladimir Vasilyev of the ruling United Russia party, Vladimir Zhirinovky of the Liberal-Democratic Party and Sergey Mironov of A Just Russia party.
On July 1, Russia’s Constitutional Court announced a decision acknowledging that shifting the 2016 elections from December to September is in line with the country’s main law. The decision came after a respective inquiry from the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament.