Russian billionaire and presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov has announced an open contest to choose the name of his new political party.

       On February 21, Prokhorov revealed his plan of forming his own political party right after presidential election. That party is intended to be larger than the ruling United Russia party.

       Starting from February 25, those willing to join the new party can fill in a form on the candidate's official website (English version is available). There one can also suggest a name for the new party. The best name will become official. According to the counter on the website, there are already 30,000 people applied to join the party. 

      The party is yet to be officially registered by the Ministry of Justice. To pass successfully through procedure a political party must have at least 45,000 members and regional departments in at least half of Russia’s 83 constituent units.

      Prokhorov reminded that since the Law on Political Parties was passed in 2005, no new parties have been registered. He intends to change this doubtful tradition and to create a "normal, functioning party". He added that all the seven parties in the country are “puppets imitating political activity.” 

Sources: RIA Novosti BBC.ru Image: top.rbc.ru

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