The mayor is not selected in the face – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

The Novosibirsk City Council at a meeting on Wednesday approved the report of Mayor Anatoly Lokot (KPRF) on the work done in 2022. The achievements of the communist, already twice elected by the townspeople to his position, were praised by representatives of various factions, even United Russia. However, this did not prevent the deputies immediately after the report from supporting the idea of ​​abolishing the direct election of the mayor. The Regional Legislative Assembly may implement it as early as next week. Mr. Lokot himself does not comment on the possible decision of the authorities.

At the session on February 15, deputies of the Novosibirsk City Council listened to the traditional report of the head of the city on the work done. Communist Anatoly Lokot listed a number of achievements of his administration for 2022: he spoke about the growth of the revenue side of the Novosibirsk budget by 17%, the completion of the construction of the Arena Park (and the imminent completion of a new metro station), the construction of 1.2 million square meters. m of housing, about the resettlement of 805 people from emergency houses, etc.

The report made a favorable impression on the deputies. Thus, United Russia Igor Titarenko thanked the city administration for attracting developers to the development of social infrastructure. Independent MP Natalia Pinus noted that last year “financial services did an excellent job”, and her colleague Svetlana Kaverzina noted “a radical improvement” in public transport. There were even very complimentary data – about the growth of the level of confidence of citizens in the municipal government from 49% to 53%.

The city council unanimously accepted the mayor’s report, and Anatoly Lokot himself went to a meeting at the prosecutor’s office, which was devoted to the consequences of a gas explosion in a residential building on February 9, which claimed the lives of 14 people. The deputies, meanwhile, heard and discussed information about the abolition of direct elections for the head of Novosibirsk.

Recall that on February 2, a bill was submitted to the regional legislative assembly, canceling the direct elections of mayors of Novosibirsk and the science city of Koltsovo. Its authors were a group of 10 deputies – representatives of United Russia, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice and independent parliamentarians. According to the document, the head of the administration will be elected by municipal deputies among the candidates selected by the competition commission. On February 14, the committee on state policy, legislation and local self-government recommended the adoption of this bill.

Igor Umerbaev (United Russia) presented the initiative for discussion by the City Council. He tried to convince the deputies that Novosibirsk citizens were not being deprived of the right to choose, only the form of its implementation was changing. According to United Russia, the new model is dictated by “difficult times” and “a unified system of public authority” described in the Constitution in 2020. He also mentioned the decline in “electoral activity”. In conclusion, Mr. Umerbaev questioned the ability of voters to make an informed choice. “Oh, this one has some kind of thick face, but this one looks like a bandit. And this one seems to have a face – let’s vote for him! – he parodied the townspeople who came to the site.

“In my opinion, the biggest plus and, perhaps, the main argument in favor of changing the mayoral election system is just the professional competition commission, where the candidate passes the aptitude test,” supported the speaker of the city council, United Russia Dmitry Asantsev. And the independent deputy Igor Ukraintsev offered to admit at all that the mayor is an “assistant to the governor”, and therefore his election is superfluous.

A number of deputies spoke out against the abolition of direct elections. “What happened? Why did you stop believing in Novosibirsk?” Svetlana Kaverzina was indignant. And independent MP Anton Kartavin suggested holding a referendum to find out the opinion of the townspeople. The position of the mayor himself remained unknown. Recall that earlier Anatoly Lokot, who twice won direct elections – in 2014 and 2019, told reporters that he did not consider it necessary to make “any political statements on this subject.”

Note that the position of the City Council formally does not affect the decision of the Legislative Assembly. According to Igor Umerbaev, on February 20, it is likely to adopt the bill. Once signed by the governor, the city council will have three months to bring municipal regulations into line with the new law. The powers of the mayor Anatoly Lokot expire in September 2024.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk