Penza, 6 July 2016. PenzaNews. The member of “A Just Russia” political party Lyudmila Kolomytseva said she intends to clash in debates with her opponents during the election campaign to the State Duma of the seventh convocation.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

“I am ready to debate my point of view and ask questions,” she said.

She expressed her confidence that the debate will increase availability of information on candidates to all voters, further competition and improve quality of the election.

“We require dialog with other political parties and civil organizations to outline the crucial objectives in development of economy and social services,” the press service of the party’s regional division quotes Lyudmila Kolomytseva.

The first to suggest setting up public debate was Georgy Kamnev, first secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region, who will be seeking to get elected to the State Duma in the single-mandate election district No. 146.

During the meeting with journalists at the PenzaNews press center on June 29, the leader of the Penza Communists challenged his main opponent for the election – current State Duma deputy Sergei Yesyakov – and other candidates for a public debate.

At the moment, Sergei Yesyakov has posted no official reaction to the challenge, be it through the media or via the party’s website.

As PenzaNews reported earlier, the election to the State Duma of the 7th convocation will take place at the unified voting day of September 18, in accordance with the presidential decree signed on June 17.

The election will be conducted in a mixed form: out of the 450 deputies, 225 will be elected through party lists in unified federal districts (under a proportionary system), while 225 more will be elected for single-mandate regions (under a majoritary system).

The political parties that intend to get representation in the State Duma must surpass a 5% threshold, while their candidates in the region must receive a relative majority of the vote.

Previously, the mixed State Duma election system was used in 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2003. However, starting from 2007, the voters were asked to vote for party lists only.

The election campaign in the Penza region election district No. 146 will pit together Sergei Yesyakov (United Russia), Georgy Kamnev (CPRF), Lyudmila Kolomytseva (“A Just Russia”), and Pavel Kulikov (LDPR). At the same time, the competitors in the election district No. 147 are Alexei Petrov (CPRF), Leonid Levin (“A Just Russia”), and Alexander Vasilyev (CPRF); the United Russia decided to not choose its candidate for the latter election district.