Candidates for mayor of Moscow began televised debates

On Monday, August 14, the televised debates of candidates for mayor of Moscow started. The first issue was broadcast live on the Moscow Trust TV channel and was dedicated to the topic of transport security. It was attended by three of the five registered candidates for mayor of the capital. New People candidate Vladislav Davankov promised that if he wins the election, he will transfer all officials of the Moscow transport department to public transport. Fair Russian Dmitry Gusev intends to organize free travel around the city for all Muscovites by optimizing the budget. And LDPR representative Boris Chernyshov proposed to move administrative buildings from the center of the capital in order to unload it from official cars.

The campaign period on television and radio for candidates for mayor of Moscow started on 12 August. All candidates have already been sent their work schedule (available to Kommersant). Moreover, according to a note to it, the debate is designed for the participation of only four people (together with Sergei Sobyanin, five people are running for mayor of Moscow). Only three took part in their first issue: State Duma vice-speakers Vladislav Davankov (New People) and Boris Chernyshov (LDPR), as well as State Duma deputy Dmitry Gusev (A Just Russia – For Truth, SRZP).

Sources of “Kommersant” in the mayor’s office do not comment on the participation of Sergei Sobyanin in the debate. The absence of Moscow City Duma deputy from the Communist Party Leonid Zyuganov was explained by his press service by a meeting with residents: “We received the draw after we formed the candidate’s work schedule until August 27. Now, when we have already given a guarantee to people that we will come and meet with them at a specific point on a specific issue, it is not possible to change the schedule.” However, the communist team assured that he would definitely take part in the debate towards the end of August.

According to the draw before the broadcast, Vladislav Davankov was the first to speak. Each Muscovite motorist spends a total of 11 days a year in traffic jams, he said. The reason for this, according to the candidate for mayor, is the three-fold excess of Moscow’s vehicular traffic and the compaction of residential development by “humans”: “We build more, the greater the load on the transport infrastructure, we invest more.” Mr. Davankov also included traffic fines for improper parking and noisy vehicles with “direct flow” among the transport problems, promising that he would seek to resolve these issues regardless of the results of the September elections. In case of victory on the very first day of work as mayor, Mr. Davankov “will transfer all officials from the transport department to public transport,” the candidate assured.

Then the relay race passed to Dmitry Gusev. He focused on the idea of ​​abolishing public transport fares for all Muscovites. Indeed, in fact, the townspeople pay for transport twice, Mr. Gusev is convinced: when they pay taxes, from which funds are allocated for the maintenance of public transport, as well as directly paying for travel. Spravoross proposes to solve this problem in three stages: at the first stage, abolish the fee for all Moscow schoolchildren, at the second stage, for parents with children, and at the third stage, make free travel for all Muscovites. For these purposes, according to Dmitry Gusev, the city will need about 50 billion a year, and these funds can be found by optimizing the budget.

Boris Chernyshov was the last to speak at the debate. According to the liberal democrat, transport problems in Moscow arise due to the overload of the center, where citizens flock in official cars, so administrative buildings from the center of the capital need to be removed. Also, according to Boris Chernyshov, it is necessary to abandon the compact residential development in favor of the “comprehensive and comprehensive” development of the city. In addition, Mr. Chernyshov considers it necessary to revise all road signs and road markings in the capital, because it often happens that parking for the disabled is indicated on the marking, and there is a sign next to it that parking is prohibited.

In the second part of the debate, the candidates could ask each other questions, and not all of them related to the stated topic. Thus, Mr. Davankov asked Mr. Gusev why he was in favor of increasing CCTV cameras in Moscow: in the opinion of the politician, they do not solve the problem of crime, but at the same time they help to collect fines from Muscovites. Dmitry Gusev, in his response, focused on the payment of fines: the deputy believes that Moscow should generally introduce a payment system in proportion to income. That is, Muscovites with excess incomes should not pay the same amounts as Muscovites with a regular salary, because the effect of such a punishment for rich and poor Russians is felt differently. Mr. Gusev, according to the draw, asked Boris Chernyshov a question and asked him to express his proposals on how to bring jobs closer to people’s places of residence. Mr. Chernyshov replied that Muscovites do not buy apartments in remote areas because of a better life, and often the issue of proximity to their place of work is not paramount for them, because there are a large number of other pressing problems, for example, unscrupulous management companies. This block was completed by Boris Chernyshov’s question to Vladislav Davankov. A candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party asked a colleague from the New People, who recently moved to a Moskvich with an electric motor, can a car for 3.5 million rubles be considered popular if the median salary in the capital is 50-70 thousand rubles, or is it better to develop the automotive industry for ordinary people? However, the debate viewers did not hear a direct answer to this question: Mr. Davankov only said that in the fall in the State Duma he would discuss the experience of driving a Moskvich with colleagues and prepare a relevant bill, and also recalled some of his initiatives, for example, an increase in fines for noisy vehicles.

The debates of candidates for mayor of Moscow will go on until September 8 every week from Monday to Thursday on the Moscow Trust and Moscow 24 TV channels. Among the topics that politicians have yet to discuss are the digitalization of the city, industry, tourism development, health and education issues, as well as the patriotic education of youth.

Elena Rozhkova