Putin limits number of political parties

Mr Putin has centralised power

By Jacky Rowland in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law measures that will sharply limit the number of political parties and provide state financing for the remaining few.

Mr Putin said the new law would strengthen the political system, by creating a few major parties.

Critics say it will reduce pluralism and increase the Kremlin's control over parliament.

Parties will be more dependent on the Kremlin

The new law is the latest step in a year-long campaign by the Kremlin to bring back power to the centre, following the dilution of authority under the former president, Boris Yeltsin.

Under the legislation, a political party needs to have at least 10,000 members, spread across the country, in order to be registered.

Private donations will be strictly limited, while a party must receive more than 3% of the vote in elections to qualify for state funding.

'Step forward'

President Putin hailed the new law as a step forward for the legislative system.

He argued that corrupt business tycoons would no longer be able to set up dummy parties in order to win parliamentary immunity.

Mr Luzhkov has become a Putin backer

But liberals in Russia say the Kremlin will now have greater leverage than before over the parties which pass the test.

In another development, the pro-Putin Unity party and the Fatherland movement led by the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, have created a formal alliance.

It essentially guarantees all legislation sponsored by the Kremlin a plain sailing through parliament.

President Putin has already sought to weaken the power of regional governors, and to rein in the media.

These latest developments are further proof of an increasingly authoritarian rule.