Direct elections for the mayor of Ulan-Ude were canceled citing the “Soviet experience”
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On March 28, deputies of the People’s Khural (Parliament) of Buryatia, on the initiative of the head of the republic, Alexei Tsydenov (United Russia), canceled the direct election of the mayor of Ulan-Ude. Now the mayor will be elected by city council deputies from among the candidates selected by the competition commission. Supporters of this decision never tired of listing its advantages. In addition to saving budget funds, this is a return to Soviet practices that were once foolishly traded for Western values, they argued. As a result, 54 parliamentarians supported the reform, six were against it, and one more abstained. According to Kommersant’s information, the decision is unlikely to lead to a change in the mayor of Ulan-Ude – on the contrary, under the new procedure it will be easier for him to retain his seat than in the elections.
United Russia member Leonid Belykh immediately called on his colleagues to “unite and vote together.” “Buryatia is in good standing at the federal level. We are moving forward normally, we achieved a high percentage of turnout in the presidential elections (73.7%). “Kommersant”). For everything to continue to work out for us, the republic must be united. A difficult issue has been brought up for the session, but it is necessary to vote without disunity between United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and the Liberal Democratic Party. This way we will show everyone that they can work with us, they can rely on us,” said the deputy.
In turn, the speaker, head of the administration of the head of Buryatia Aldar Gulgenov focused the attention of the people’s representatives on the fact that direct elections remained only in the regional capitals of Khakassia (Abakan), Chukotka (Anadyr), Yakutia (Yakutsk) and the Khabarovsk Territory (Khabarovsk), and in All other administrative centers already have a competitive model in place.
Deputy Erzhen Chimitsyrenova (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) asked how much money would be saved as a result of the abolition of direct elections, and also asked to clarify the principle of forming a competition commission.
Mr. Gulgenov explained that 86 million rubles have been allocated in the current year’s budget for electoral procedures, but only 16.8 million rubles directly go to the elections of the mayor. of them.
As for the competition commission, 50% of it will consist of deputies of the city council, and the other half will be delegated by the head of the republic, the speaker added.
Ms. Chimitsyrenova’s faction colleague Bair Tsyrenov asked to know the reason why the bill, introduced by Alexei Tsydenov back in January, was submitted for consideration only at the end of March – after the presidential elections. “The issue did not have time to be worked out in two committees,” was the answer. Another communist, Timur Nimaev, was outraged by the “special treatment” towards the republican capital: “In other municipalities, deputies themselves made the decision to switch to a competitive system. Why should we in the Khural now decide for the deputies of the Ulan-Ude City Council?”
Aldar Gulgenov replied that most of the population of Buryatia is concentrated in Ulan-Ude. “People don’t care who exactly runs the city, as long as it develops and is comfortable,” he opened up. “Even if we look at the Soviet experience, the first secretaries of city committees were never directly elected. It was already in the nineties that they began to introduce the Western political system, and today we see where Western values are heading.”
The mention of the Soviet experience offended Sergei Dorosh (LDPR). “Some have already applauded and destroyed the great Soviet Union! Now, to the sound of applause, our democracy will die,” the liberal democrat said pathetically.
However, there were more arguments in support of the bill. Thus, United Russia member Anatoly Dymchikov cited as an example the Eravninsky district of the republic, where the competitive model has been operating for three years, “and all this time the residents have only been grateful.” His faction colleague Vadim Bredniy called direct elections of the mayor “a complex thing that contributes to the stratification of society.” Another representative of United Russia, Andrei Nevyantsev, mentioned the positive experience of Severobaikalsk, where “political games” stopped, and also called on the opposition “not to lead the residents of Ulan-Ude into fornication.”
The intrigue about the career prospects of the current mayor Igor Shutenkov, whose powers expire in September this year, was removed by United Russia member Mikhail Gergenov. “A year ago, the President of Russia came to Ulan-Ude, and Alexey Tsydenov invited him to approve the master plan for the development of Ulan-Ude. The plan was approved; it was based on developments made by the city administration, headed by Igor Shutenkov. We must give Igor Yuryevich the opportunity to implement this plan,” said Mr. Gergenov.
A source familiar with the situation in the republic previously told Kommersant about the extension of Igor Shutenkov’s powers. According to him, the reform was initiated specifically for the current mayor, since he risks not being re-elected in direct elections. In 2019, Mr. Shutenkov won with 52.5% of the votes. Finishing second was Senator from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Markhaev (36.6%), who tried to achieve a revision of the voting results through mass protests. As another source explained to Kommersant, the abolition of direct elections is also intended to “neutralize the build-up of protest sentiments on the part of external hostile forces.”
As a result, the bill was supported by the votes of 54 deputies (United Russia has 51 mandates out of 66 in parliament). Six opposed, one abstained.
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