In the absence of candidates – Newspaper Kommersant No. 63 (7508) dated 04/12/2023

Both candidates for the post of mayor of Tomsk are the deputy of the regional Duma from the Communist Party Maxim Luchshev and non-partisan and. O. Mayor Mikhail Ratner – on Tuesday refused to participate in the first indirect elections of the mayor. First, the communist withdrew from the race, saying that he would “be more useful in another capacity,” and then Mr. Ratner announced a similar decision, who “did not want to become mayor at any cost.” Political scientists predicted earlier that indirect elections in the multi-party Tomsk parliament would lead to a dead end, since none of the candidates would be able to get the two-thirds of the deputies’ votes needed to win.

The competition for the election of the mayor of Tomsk on April 11 was declared invalid due to the lack of candidates. The finalists selected by the competition commission from eight applicants – regional Duma deputy from the Communist Party Maxim Luchshev and acting head of the city Mikhail Ratner (non-partisan, but who repeatedly took part in United Russia events) – withdrew their candidacies on the eve of the vote.

Recall that the elections of the mayor of Tomsk through the City Duma are held for the first time: in December 2022, at the initiative of United Russia, direct elections of the mayor were canceled. To win, one of the candidates had to gain a qualified majority – at least 25 votes (two-thirds of the list of deputies). Meanwhile, United Russia (ER) controls only 11 out of 37 mandates in the City Duma, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation – eight, Yabloko – four, A Just Russia – three, New People and the Liberal Democratic Party – two each, the Party of Growth – one. Another six deputies are united in three groups of two people each.

Maxim Luchshev did not explain the reasons for the recusal to the deputies and did not appear at the session, confining himself to a written appeal. At the same time, on Tuesday morning, the communist was praised by the governor of the Tomsk region, secretary of the regional branch of the United Russia, Vladimir Mazur: “I respect and support the decision. The experience, knowledge and energy of Maxim Alekseevich will definitely find application in Tomsk.” “This decision is meaningful, responsible and thoughtful. I am sure that I will bring more benefit to Tomsk in a different capacity, ”Mr. Luchshev himself told Kommersant.

But Mikhail Ratner spoke before the deputies, who stressed that he would “not want to become mayor at any cost.” “When there is no alternative situation, I think it is wrong, not in Tomsk. Therefore, I am withdrawing my candidacy, I am asking you to appoint a reconsideration as soon as possible and I believe that the mayor should be chosen on an alternative basis, ”said Mr. Ratner. He also thanked the deputies for the meetings and negotiations within the framework of the competition, which, according to him, was accompanied by “intrigues, undercover games and even whole dramatizations.” “Often we argue whether our city is smart or not smart. But he’s not boring, that’s for sure. The current situation is a vivid confirmation of this, ”concluded and. O. mayor.

“If there is a worthy candidate, I am absolutely convinced that we will get the required number of votes,” said the speaker of the City Duma, Chingis Akataev (ER), in response. “There were no intrigues and staging here. Apparently, the administration of Tomsk was more engaged in this in their fear of not achieving this goal. Separately, United Russia addressed the communists: “If five or six more such competitions are held, I think you will definitely take five or six key places in the region and the city. Therefore, you can continue to stick to your tactics.”

Other deputies were surprised by the outcome of the competition, and some were even outraged. “This is some kind of pampering: they tried, promoted, but we lost time,” Tatyana Bogomolova (ER) told Kommersant, stating that Mikhail Ratner’s decision “deserves respect.” “Uncertainty will last until September,” deputy Yevgeny Kavezin (Yabloko) told Kommersant with regret.

Alexey Balanovsky, Deputy Chairman of the City Duma Committee on Social Issues (ER), is convinced that due to political disagreements, not a single “even a very well-prepared” candidate for mayor will be able to get the support of two-thirds of the deputies. “I believe that even if not this time, but the next one, it is still necessary to make a decision on the election of the mayor of Tomsk by a simple majority of votes, and not by a qualified one. But to shoot – only qualified,” he said.

“Theoretically, amendments (for the rejection of a qualified majority.— “b”) are possible, but it will take more time to amend the charter, so most likely the next procedure will not be changed in terms of the number of votes. We just won’t make it in time,” Ilya Leontyev, chairman of the Duma commission on regulations and legal issues, told Kommersant. The issue of setting the date for the new competition will be considered on April 26 by the regulation commission, and on May 10 it will be submitted to a council meeting. Mr. Leontiev specified that the whole procedure would take about three months.

The failure of the first indirect elections was predictable due to the haste and the high threshold of 25 votes, political scientist Anna Yudina believes: “Each new competition will come to a standstill, and the city will remain without a mayor for an indefinite period. I admit that in the near future, for this reason, there will still be an initiative to change the procedure so that the winner is elected without a strictly defined number of votes necessary for victory.

Daria Reshetnikova, Novosibirsk