He said that the previous federal constitutional law "On the Referendum in the Russian Federation," adopted in 1995, had internal systemic contradictions.
"For example, 100 people could form an initiative group on a referendum, but at the same time at least 2 million signature had to be collected to hold it," Mr. Simonov told reporters. "Many initiative groups were created that have no goal or real possibility of collecting signatures, they were set up only for informational purposes. The new law will make such false initiatives politically impotent,." Simonov told journalists.
According to him, the adoption of a new federal constitutional law on referendums "will put the issue of holding them on a real political and legal base and will require that the initiators of the referendum strengthen a regional component."
Mr. Simonov also pointed out that the adoption of the draft law will make it possible for government bodies to directly initiate a referendum if the need to hold it is stipulated in an international treaty.
