Ahead of State Duma elections in 2016, Democratic Coalition, an opposition alliance formed in April 2015, announced that it is targeting local elections in three regions, Kaluga, Kostroma and Novosibirsk, to drum up support and test its capabilities.
But after the Coalition’s partner, the opposition party RPR-PARNAS, has stalled at the registration stage in Novosibirsk, this alliance is likely to be left with minimal chances for participating in the elections to the regional legislature in September. Following a recommendation by a local election commission working group, the Siberian city’s election commission is currently deciding whether to register RPR-PARNAS due to false signatures on supporting statements.
Meanwhile, though the city and regional authorities do not see eye to eye, Novosibirsk’s local authorities have come together to openly accuse the opposition of buying votes and, in a reference to the events of 2004 in Ukraine, ‘planning an Orange Revolution’ in Siberia.
