The State Duma approved in the first reading the right of governors to dismiss mayors after a reprimand

The State Duma on Thursday adopted in the first reading a bill giving regional heads the right to dismiss mayors if, a month after the governor announced a reprimand to them, the reasons for it have not been eliminated. Despite the fact that among the authors of the initiative there were deputies of all Duma factions, its discussion caused heated discussion and criticism. In response, supporters of the amendments said that it was better to fire mayors than to put them in prison.

The bill was submitted to the Duma on June 7 by a group of senators and deputies of all factions. The explanatory note to the document states that it is “aimed at comprehensively introducing changes of a legal and technical nature to a number of legislative acts.” In particular, it is proposed to clarify the names of senior officials and government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, bringing them into compliance with current legislation. However, the article concerning changes to the federal law on local self-government (LSG) also contains a number of more significant innovations, including the right of the governor to “reprimand the head of a municipal entity or the head of a local administration for improper performance or failure to perform duties,” as well as to remove the mayor from office , if within a month from the date of the reprimand he has not eliminated the reasons that served as the basis for such a penalty.

Let us recall that at the end of 2021, the law “On the general principles of the organization of public power in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation” was adopted, prepared to develop the norms of the updated Constitution. He, in particular, simplified the procedure for the dismissal of regional heads by the president due to loss of trust (if the old law contained a list of reasons why the president could stop trusting the governor, then in the new edition it was no longer there) and gave the head of state a new right – to declare the head of the subject reprimand for “improper performance of duties” and dismissal after a month if shortcomings are not eliminated. Governors themselves received similar powers in relation to mayors. These norms were duplicated in the new version of the law on local self-government, submitted to the Duma in December 2021, but after the draft was adopted in the first reading on February 23, 2022, it remained without movement.

Thus, the innovations discussed on October 12 were well known to the deputies, which, however, did not prevent them from subjecting the authors of the project to “interrogation with bias.”

Thus, Anzhelika Glazkova (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) asked whether the rule on the dismissal by the governor of a mayor elected in direct elections would not violate the constitutional rights of the citizens who elected him. In response, co-author of the amendments Gennady Panin (United Russia) decided to explain like with like, recalling the president’s similar right to remove elected governors.

Andrei Alshevskikh (United Russia) proposed dismissing mayors “who did not fulfill powers that were fully funded”: “This would be fair: he received this money and did nothing, you can ask him for this.” Co-author of the project and part-time head of the relevant committee for local self-government, Alexey Didenko (LDPR), called this idea “reasonable,” but recalled that under current laws, the transfer of powers without financial support is impossible.

Nina Ostanina (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) noted that the bill “protects the interests of governors,” but doubted that it “takes into account the interests of the population.” Mr. Panin did not agree with this: “Prior to the introduction of this norm, it is almost impossible for the population to remove a head who does not properly fulfill his powers. This provision will precisely make it possible to remove negligent heads and not have to wait for the end of their term of office while they work carelessly.”

Nikolai Osadchiy (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) expressed concern that “both political motives and motives of personal hostility” could be added to the warning and reprimand. And his faction colleague Olga Alimova suggested that the adoption of the law “could lead to instability in the personnel policy of LSG, including demotivation of personnel.” “It will not be those who are negligent who will remain, but those who please the governor,” she explained the meaning of her prediction.

Andrey Kuznetsov (SRZP), speaking from the faction, recalled that during the adoption of the law on public power, “this new concept was not only under-discussed, it was not discussed at all.” “We are collapsing the LSG system. And no one seems to regret it: neither the people, nor the authorities, nor the deputies. But what do we want to create instead? — the deputy asked a philosophical question. He agreed with Ms. Alimova that “everything will end with the selection of heads of municipalities loyal to the governors.” And the governor, according to the deputy, will evaluate the mayor by how many percent he receives in the elections in his city. Therefore, Mr. Kuznetsov believes that it would be more correct to remove the heads of municipalities through the courts.

“The essence of managing a territory is not confrontation, but consolidation and the search for effective management solutions,” another co-author of the project, Sergei Morozov (United Russia), objected to the critics, citing his experience as the Ulyanovsk governor. “I had heads of municipalities from different parties, and no one I didn’t oppress them for political reasons. Everyone was involved in development.” So “both governors and a huge number of heads of municipalities are awaiting the law,” he assured.

“In fact, our constitutional and legal structure is such that the mayor is the most protected political unit, it is almost impossible to dismiss him,” Alexey Didenko said on the other hand. “Where political disagreements arose, including on the basis of ineffective use of budget funds, criminal cases arose. We, thinking about whether this rule was appropriate, decided among ourselves that it would be better for the mayor to be removed by decision of the governor than for him to go to prison.”

But even such a highly humane argument did not convince everyone: 284 deputies voted for the adoption of the amendments in the first reading, 65 were against and five abstained.

Ksenia Veretennikova