The head of Buryatia proposed canceling direct elections for the mayor of Ulan-Ude

The head of Buryatia, Alexey Tsydenov (United Russia), proposed canceling the direct elections for the mayor of Ulan-Ude, which should be held in September. Instead, the head of the republican capital will be chosen by city council deputies, as happens in the vast majority of other administrative centers. Kommersant’s sources believe that the republican authorities would like to exclude a repetition of the street protests that took place after five years ago, Senator Vyacheslav Markhaev (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) lost the mayoral election to Igor Shutenkov, supported by Mr. Tsydenov, and make it easier for the latter to be elected for a new term. However, another Kommersant interlocutor claims that the amendment on the election of the mayor by deputies was introduced “not under anyone’s specific name.”

Alexey Tsydenov introduced amendments to the republican law “On the organization of local self-government” to the People’s Khural (parliament) on January 23. He proposed changing the clause according to which the mayor of Ulan-Ude is “elected in municipal elections” and electing him “by the representative body of the municipality from among the candidates presented by the competition commission based on the results of the competition.” The explanatory note states that the competitive model, to which 17 out of 23 municipalities in Buryatia have already switched, “has shown its viability and effectiveness.” It helps to “increase the requirements for the applicant’s professional skills and knowledge” and removes the question of the “financial component.” “Given the difficult economic situation in the country as a whole and the subsidization of the consolidated republican budget… the transition will save a significant portion of financial resources,” the document says. It should be noted that for the holding of a single voting day in 2024, for which the mayoral elections were also planned, the budget of Ulan-Ude provided more than 86 million rubles. The project to abandon direct elections of the mayor will be considered at the session of the People’s Khural on February 29.

Chairman of the Ulan-Ude City Council Chimit Balzhinimaev (ER) supported Alexey Tsydenov’s initiative, saying that “the city needs to deal with pressing matters.” “With such a volume of work and in the conditions of the Northern Military District, I think now is not the time to be distracted by such resource-intensive tasks as popular elections. The competitive format for electing a mayor is currently the most economical and no less effective. We need to work and not get carried away with politics,” he explained, calling on the deputies of the People’s Khural to “support changes to the law.”

“It must be taken into account that external forces hostile to our country are actively trying to shake up public sentiment in Russia, especially in national regions,” a source familiar with the preparation of the bill explained to Kommersant. “A variety of reasons are used for this.” Let us recall that in 2019, the struggle for the post of mayor of Ulan-Ude between the protege of the head of Buryatia, Igor Shutenkov, and the first secretary of the Republican Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Senator Vyacheslav Markhaev (Mr. Shutenkov won with 52.5% of the votes against 36.6% for the communist) ended in rallies and clashes with law enforcement officers. Mr. Markhaev’s supporters then failed to achieve a revision of the results.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, Mr. Markhaev, who was elected to the State Duma in 2021 and missed the elections for the head of the republic in 2022, was not considered a threat by the Buryat authorities in the context of the mayoral elections. Vyacheslav Markhaev himself told Kommersant that he did not rule out his participation in the autumn campaign, but would do it “as the party decides.” He has no doubt about the abolition of direct elections and does not intend to participate in the competitive procedure.

The idea of ​​canceling direct elections could be connected with the decision to extend the powers of Igor Shutenkov, admits a Kommersant source familiar with the situation. Back in early January, Kommersant’s interlocutors admitted that Mr. Shutenkov might not run for a second term, but now, they believe, the bet is on him, and “any, even a technical candidate” could complicate his election. However, another Kommersant interlocutor in the government of Buryatia insists that the issue of the mayor’s candidacy has not yet been resolved: “The initiative was not created under anyone’s specific name.”

It is curious that direct elections for the mayor of Ulan-Ude were already canceled in 2012. Then a “two-headed” system was adopted: the mayor was elected from among the deputies and led the city council, and the head of the administration – the city manager – was determined by competition. In 2015, the People’s Khural returned general elections, but they were held only four years later, after the expiration of the powers of the then mayor Alexander Golkov (ER). Now Ulan-Ude remains one of five regional capitals where the mayor is still elected by residents, along with Yakutsk (elections were held in 2021), Khabarovsk (in 2023), Anadyr and Abakan (elections are scheduled for 2024). In 2023, direct elections were canceled in Novosibirsk, in 2022 – in Tomsk.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation opposes the abolition of mayoral elections. “Given today’s difficult situation in the country, greater involvement of citizens in resolving important issues is necessary,” deputy Bair Tsyrenov told Kommersant. Whether the Communists intend to hold protests against the reform, Mr. Tsyrenov found it difficult to say: “There will still be consultations on this matter.”

According to political scientist Timur Dugarzhapov, Igor Shutenkov is a “rather closed and non-public politician” who managed to win the 2019 elections using the effect of novelty. Mr. Shutenkov could have difficulties getting elected in new direct elections, the expert believes. Political scientist Alexey Mikhalev notes that the abolition of direct mayoral elections is “ordinary for the country as a whole.” Mr. Shutenkov, in his opinion, managed to make his position technocratic, “having established himself as a manager, not a politician.”

Vlad Nikiforov, Irkutsk; Andrey Prah