Mari El parliament supported the initiative of Yoshkar Ola authorities, and banned public events on the city's waterfront. According to the website of the regional parliament, September 29, the National Assembly voted to ban rallies on squares and streets adjacent to the Malaya Kokshaga waterfront.
According to «7x7», 36 deputies of the State Assembly favoured a legislative initiative. Two voted against.
Legislative amendments made to Article 5.1 of the law governing the conduct of public events on the territory of Mari El. Ban on holding meetings, rallies, marches and demonstrations concerns the Republic and Patriarchaya squares, Arkhangelsk suburb, Amsterdam, Bruges and Voskresenskaya naberezhnaya, Anisimovskaya street. They are all located in Yoshkar-Ola.
The proposal of the city authorities also said to expand the list of prohibited places: these may be related buildings, structures and objects intended for worship, prayer and religious meetings, religious worship (pilgrimage), as well as gardens, parks, beaches and bridges.
The Public Chamber of Mari El has come to the conclusion that the restrictions on holding public events aimed at protecting the public interest and supported proposed amendments to the law.
Representatives of the Communist Party were against the ban. According to the deputy of the State Assembly Gennady Zubkov, they intend to appeal against the decision by the General Prosecutor.
June 22 deputies of Yoshkar-Ola City Council (29 persons voted for, three — against) supported initiative of the mayor of the Mari El capital Yevgeny Maslov to change regional law on public events.
One of the reasons for this could be events of May 9, when the representatives of the Communist Party carried out a propaganda campaign at the Republic Square in Yoshkar-Ola. Distribution of balls with symbols of the party attracted the attention of a passing head of Mari El Leonid Markelov. He walked over to the protesters and demanded to stop the action. Subsequently, representatives of the Communist Party accused the head of Mari El in political engagement. Republic Square is adjacent to the waterfront of Malaya Kokshaga and is included in the approved list of places with imposed restrictions on holding public events.
