Russia's lower house passes law on party reform

Russia's lower house of parliament Friday voted to adopt a law meant to make registration of new political parties easier in a response to massive winter rallies that demanded political change. Under the draft law, the minimum number of members required for registration of a party decreases from 40,000 to 500.
The law now needs to be passed by the Federation Council upper house and then to be signed into law by the president. After last December's fraud-tainted parliamentary elections, the Russian government faced an unprecedented public outlash at the current electoral system, which the opposition views as neither fair nor representative. President Dmitry Medvedev promised political reform after tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Moscow, first by making it easier to create political parties, then by bringing back elections for regional governors.