Russia on Friday barred a coalition co-led by top opposition activist Alexei Navalny from participating in a major regional poll, the party said on its website.
The electoral commission in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk barred the RPR-Parnas alliance from registering to run in regional polls, the opponents' statement said.
The coalition of two opposition parties is led by opposition politician and lawyer Navalny and former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
In April Russia withdrew the party led by Navalny from the list of authorised parties, while the activist leader himself has been taken to court.
Though he was spared prison time after a tense hearing in May, the charismatic opponent's supporters say the convictions of fraud originated in the Kremlin rather than in court.
The opponents said Novosibirsk's electoral commission claimed the signatures the party had gathered from supporters did not pass official authenticity checks.
The party said it was removed from the polls "for political reasons -- the authorities are afraid to let the the opposition into the elections."
According to electoral rules, RPR-Parnas needed to gather more than 11,000 signatures from residents in order to participate in the elections for Novosibirsk's regional parliament.
"Elections without the participation of the opposition (and the only independent opposition is RPR-Parnas) are not elections," Navalny wrote on Twitter.
Elections for Novosibirsk's regional assembly are set for September 13. The city is Russia's third largest with more than 1.5 million residents. It lies around 2,800 kilometres (1,750 miles) east of Moscow.
Russia on Friday barred a coalition co-led by top opposition activist Alexei Navalny from participating in a major regional poll, the party said on its website.
The electoral commission in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk barred the RPR-Parnas alliance from registering to run in regional polls, the opponents’ statement said.
The coalition of two opposition parties is led by opposition politician and lawyer Navalny and former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
In April Russia withdrew the party led by Navalny from the list of authorised parties, while the activist leader himself has been taken to court.
Though he was spared prison time after a tense hearing in May, the charismatic opponent’s supporters say the convictions of fraud originated in the Kremlin rather than in court.
The opponents said Novosibirsk’s electoral commission claimed the signatures the party had gathered from supporters did not pass official authenticity checks.
The party said it was removed from the polls “for political reasons — the authorities are afraid to let the the opposition into the elections.”
According to electoral rules, RPR-Parnas needed to gather more than 11,000 signatures from residents in order to participate in the elections for Novosibirsk’s regional parliament.
“Elections without the participation of the opposition (and the only independent opposition is RPR-Parnas) are not elections,” Navalny wrote on Twitter.
Elections for Novosibirsk’s regional assembly are set for September 13. The city is Russia’s third largest with more than 1.5 million residents. It lies around 2,800 kilometres (1,750 miles) east of Moscow.
