Novosibirsk cancels direct mayoral elections

The Legislative Assembly of the Novosibirsk Region adopted a bill on the abolition of direct elections for the post of mayor of Novosibirsk and the science city of Koltsovo, transmits Interfax.

It is specified that the bill was submitted for consideration in early February. The Committee of the Regional Legislative Assembly on State Policy, Legislation and Local Self-Government considered the bill on February 14 and recommended that it be adopted in two readings. In the first reading, the document was adopted earlier today, February 20.

According to the adopted law, elections for the post of head of the two city districts will be held by a representative body. It is assumed that candidates for the post of mayors will be appointed by the competition commission. The law will enter into force after the expiration of the powers of the acting mayors of Novosibirsk and the science city of Koltsovo, Anatoly Lokt and Nikolai Krasnikov. The next elections are to be held in 2024.

For the abolition of direct elections in the Novosibirsk region, 49 deputies voted against, 12 voted against. Governor Andrei Travnikov was among the supporters of the abolition. “I believe that this initiative is timely today, there is no reason to postpone its adoption,” he said. Those who voted against cancellation point to the high corruption risks of indirect elections.

So far, Novosibirsk has been the last million-plus city in Russia to host direct elections. Now they are preserved only in Khabarovsk, Anadyr, Abakan, Yakutsk and Ulan-Ude. In October 2022, the Legislative Duma of the Tomsk Region canceled the direct elections of the regional center, now the head of the city will be elected by a competition commission.