Competition among the candidates running in single-mandate constituencies is heavy, with approximately 14 candidates running for each seat. An even stiffer level of competition is expected for the candidates running on party lists, with roughly 16 candidates competing for each seat. The right to vote turns out to have serious budgetary implications. On January 28, the Constitutional Court began to look into the question of whether the Law on the Election of People's Deputies conforms to the Constitution. A group of 53 MPs requested the Court to examine whether the law is improperly generous in granting rights to parties' candidates, while being too restrictive of the rights of individuals running independently.
Petitioners believe that the law in question violates Art.
Citizens exercise the equal right of access to state service, as well as to service in bodies of local self-government. 27.1, which requires candidates to take leave from the place of employment during the electoral campaign. The Court ruled that taking a leave is a right, not an obligation. Candidates may still, however, claim a paid leave. According to the Court's decision, Art. 20, which allows candidates running on party lists to run simultaneously as individuals and which establishes different terms of registration for individual candidates, violates Art.