The new law was adopted in
December 2004. It put an end to governors' elections. Under the new
system, the president chooses the
candidate to the post of a regional governor. He presents his nomination to
the regional parliament for approval. If the regional parliament
rejects the candidate twice, the president can dissolve it.
Recently the law has been
modified to allow a political party that wins the majority in the regional assembly
to put forward a candidate for the post of
governor for the consideration of the president. However, the president
has retained the right to reject the winning party's candidate and
to nominate
his own.
The supporters of the new
regional reform say that the new rules
will strengthen the role of local parliaments and political parties.
They may also help to reduce the dependence of governors on regional
financial-industrial groups.
However, the opponents of
the new measures point out that the scrapping of
governors' elections is the infringement of democratic rights and a
step toward authoritarianism.
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