Article 3 of the draft amendments also repeals the geographical restrictions at the moment of registration which are currently required pursuant to Article 9 para 2, Article 16 para 2 (6-7) and Article 19 para 1 of the Law. OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission previously stated “[a] requirement for geographic distribution of party members can also potentially represent a severe restriction of political participation at the local and regional levels incompatible with the right to free association”²⁰ and repealing the provision would therefore be welcome.

²⁰ CDL-AD(2010)024, Guidelines on Political Party Regulation by the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission, adopted by the Venice Commission at its 84 Plenary session (October 2010), para. 81. See, in this context, the 2011 ECtHR Judgment in the case of the Republican Party of Russia v. Russia of, (application no. 12976/07), 12 April 2011, paras 124- 131.