Stability will be added to the capital’s parliament – Newspaper Kommersant No. 198 (7399) dated 10/25/2022

The Moscow City Duma Commission on Legislation, Regulations, Rules and Procedures on Monday approved amendments to the law on the status of Moscow deputies, introduced by the head of the commission, United Russia Alexander Semennikov. The project, in particular, concerns responsibility for non-compliance with anti-corruption legislation: only repeated violations will be the basis for deprivation of a mandate, and deputies can get off with a warning or removal from office for one-time blunders. The expert believes that thanks to this approach, the number of deputies who have lost their powers will tend to zero.

As follows from the bill, for a single violation of anti-corruption legislation, a deputy of the Moscow City Duma (MGD) can be punished with a warning, dismissal from his position in the Duma (without deprivation of the mandate) or a ban on filling such positions until the termination of the term of deputy powers. According to Alexander Semennikov, the author of the amendments, these are violations such as the use of one’s status for activities not related to the exercise of deputy powers; failure to report information about a conflict of interest to the control commission; performance of a deputy working in the Moscow State Duma on a professional basis (the speaker of parliament, his deputies and heads of commissions) as a defense counsel or representative in court.

The basis for the deprivation of the mandate can only be the “two or more times” non-compliance with “restrictions, prohibitions, obligations” established by anti-corruption legislation. Both for a single and for repeated violations, the decision on the application of a particular punishment will be made by the MHD based on the results of an audit conducted by the control commission. According to Mr. Semennikov, the prosecutor’s office, a political party, a public chamber or the media can apply to the commission with a request for verification.

Deputy Elena Shuvalova (expelled from the Communist Party faction) who spoke at the meeting suggested that this block of amendments could be directed against the opposition. She recalled that two years ago she applied to the Moscow Region prosecutor’s office with a request to check the “signs of corruption and misappropriation of funds” she had identified, and in response, the supervisory agency complained to the chairman of the Moscow State Duma Alexei Shaposhnikov that Ms. Shuvalova, sending such requests, “is engaged in activities that not related to the exercise of parliamentary powers. “If I am a resident of the Tverskoy district and at the same time deal with the problems of this region, the problems of my voters, then I, it turns out, solve my own problems? If the commission headed by Shaposhnikov and then the Duma with its United Russia majority decides whether the actions of deputies are related to the exercise of deputy powers, then all our opposition activities will be recognized as not related to deputy work, ”the deputy said.

The decision to deprive a deputy of his powers should be made by voters, Elena Shuvalova added. In this, she was supported by the communist Pavel Tarasov, who noted that “the termination of powers should depend more on the voters and less on the officials.” “I would support such an amendment,” he said, adding that in the current “difficult times” such projects “cause concern” due to “political overtones.”

Alexander Semennikov assured the commission that the Moscow State Duma was not in a hurry to adopt the amendments it proposed “for any political event”, but was only trying to bring the law into line with the federal one, and there are clearly established deadlines for such procedures.

As a result, only Elena Shuvalova voted against the project, while Pavel Tarasov chose to abstain. As deputy Ekaterina Engalycheva (KPRF) explained to Kommersant, there is no consensus in her faction about the project, since some communists consider it technical, while others still see it as mechanisms for possible pressure on the opposition. In Yabloko, the project is also considered technical, but they tend not to support it. “Of course, I will vote against. All this is aimed at reducing the independence of deputies, ”Daria Besedina, a Yabloko girl, told Kommersant.

Director of Transparency International – R Ilya Shumanov (both the organization and Mr. Shumanov are included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of foreign agents) notes that the proposed norms are indeed provided for in federal legislation and should have been included in Moscow law a long time ago. At the same time, he points to the nuance contained in the amendments, which allows depriving deputies of mandates only as a last resort. “It is now impossible to remove a deputy from the Duma for the very fact of violating the ban. All three penalties for a single violation are provided before the end of the term of office. The lowering of the status of bans will lead to the fact that the number of “dismantled” deputies will tend to zero,” the expert is sure. At the same time, the unconditional deprivation of a mandate for violating the ban on owning shares and bonds abroad, as well as for entering the management bodies of foreign organizations, remained in Moscow law, adds Mr. Shumanov.

Kira Heifetz