For betrayal of interests – Newspaper Kommersant No. 34 (7479) dated February 28, 2023
[ad_1]
In mid-February, the Moscow Regional Electoral Committee deprived Olga Balabanova of the status of a commission member with the right to vote from A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) at the initiative of the party itself. The official reason for the recall of the Righteous Russians was “damaging the political interests of the party.” Later, the party members explained to Kommersant that Ms. Balabanova, in particular, did not support the special military operation in Ukraine. As Kommersant was told in the CEC, this is the 11th case of recall of a member of the regional commission from those initiated by the parties themselves. They have this right in 2020. So far, only the parliamentary opposition has used it, and more often at the level of territorial and precinct commissions. Sometimes, as in the case of Ms. Balabanova, the reasons for such decisions are political. However, the commissions do not satisfy all such requests of party members.
On February 15, the Moscow Regional Electoral Committee deprived Olga Balabanova, who represented A Just Russia – For Truth, from the status of a voting member of the commission with the right to vote. The text of the decision of the Presidium of the Central Council of the SRZP, which was in the public domain, indicated that she was recalled for “ineffective work”, as well as “actions that harm the political interests of the party.” As State Duma deputy from the SRZP Dmitry Gusev clarified to Kommersant, the former member of the commission did not support the special military operation in Ukraine.
The rule of law, which allows political parties to recall their representatives from election commissions, appeared in the summer of 2020 simultaneously with the rules on multi-day voting and voting in local areas. It is possible to recall a member of the election committee on the basis of a reasoned proposal from the party, but the final decision on his fate is made by the commission itself. As Kommersant was told in the press service of the Central Election Commission, from the moment this norm came into force and until today, only 11 voting members have been withdrawn from the election commissions of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The corresponding decisions, according to the CEC, were taken by the political parties of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party and the SRZP.
According to Dmitry Gusev, Mrs. Balabanova is already the third member of the commission at the regional level, whom the party decided to recall. The first two were in the previous election commissions of the Bryansk and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Those recalled, according to Mr. Gusev, “grossly violated the norms of the charter and party ethics”: “To put it simply (they were recalled.— “b”), for betraying the interests of the party.
In Tatarstan, in 2021, the SRHR also recalled PEC member Iskander Yasaveev (last year the Ministry of Justice included him on the list of foreign agents). A year earlier, he announced the stuffing of ballots for United Russia, and the Russians justifiably explained his removal by participating in a rally in support of Alexei Navalny, since this speaks of the “frivolity” of a person.
One of the first recalled members of the subject commission was the representative of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the Penza electoral committee, Ninel Chernopyatova. The party initiated her recall in November 2020. However, unlike the SRZP, the Communist Party made such a decision due to the relocation of its representative in the commission. “In general, we had no complaints about her work. For family reasons, she left for another region, did not attend several meetings of the commission. Therefore, we decided to do this so as not to wait until she returns and can work, ”Georgy Kamnev, a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, explained to Kommersant.
The Communists use this mechanism much more actively at the level of territorial and precinct electoral commissions, Yury Afonin, the first deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, told Kommersant. According to him, in total, since 2020, the party has rotated members of the TEC and PEC in Bashkiria, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorsky, Khabarovsk Territories, Vologda, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk, Rostov, Samara, Saratov and Tyumen regions. The reasons for the recall, according to Mr. Afonin, are different: for health reasons, for life circumstances, and cases “when the authorities put pressure on members of the commissions, they try to lure them over to their side.” At the same time, in some regions, the election commissions refused the communists, as they did not find sufficient grounds for replacement in their submissions, the communist said.
Sergei Karginov, a member of the LDPR Supreme Council, told Kommersant that members of the election commissions from their party responded pointwise, primarily to the PEC, but there were replacements in the TEC. As a rule, this happened due to the fact that they lost contact with the regional branch, the deputy explains. Alexei Didenko, deputy head of the party’s central apparatus, confirms that this mechanism was rarely used. However, the party members found it difficult to name specific cases. But they are remembered by the city election committee of St. Petersburg: in April 2022, the Liberal Democratic Party tried to recall 15 voting members in various TECs. Among the reasons for the reviews were incompetence in the field of electoral law, lack of knowledge of the law, loss of trust and connection with a political party. The St. Petersburg Electoral Commission turned down all candidates, firstly, because some members of the TEC have not yet worked for a year, and earlier than a year it is impossible to apply for early termination of their powers by law. Secondly, the presentation of the Liberal Democratic Party, according to the electoral committee, did not contain “certain facts and arguments based on the rule of law, which served as the basis for making the relevant decisions.”
For a reasoned decision, it is necessary to refer not to general phrases about the loss of ties with the party, insufficient activity or failure to fulfill party orders, but to specific facts, a violation of the law, Yury Andriyenko, chairman of the election commission of the Ulyanovsk region, explained to Kommersant. “It happens, after all, that a member of the election commission turns out to be very principled and does not intend to fulfill some requirements of his leadership, and this also happens when they are required to do something that goes beyond the law,” said the head of the Ulyanovsk election commission. According to him, the regional commission approaches such issues very carefully: if the recalled person does not agree with the decision, then it will have to go to court, not the party. “And to lose in such cases is absolutely bad,” Mr. Andrienko noted.
However, some electoral commissions are satisfied with the wording about “loss of connection with the party”. So, on February 15, the Dagestan Republican Commission terminated the powers of Ruslan Magomedov, a member of the TEC from SRZP Buynaksk, precisely on the basis that he “lost contact with the party and ceased to represent its interests.” In the Rostov region in 2022, the electoral committee approved 16 resolutions on the early termination of the powers of members of territorial election commissions from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party and the SRZP, which also indicated “loss of contact with the party” among the reasons for the reviews.
[ad_2]
Source link
