Tomsk opposition is immensely alarmed – Newspaper Kommersant No. 193 (7394) of 10/18/2022

The faction of the party “Fair Russia – For the Truth” (SRZP) in the Duma of Tomsk demanded to convene an extraordinary session of the city parliament and set a date for direct elections of the mayor. At the end of July, the former mayor Ivan Klein was convicted of abuse of power and dismissed. By law, the townspeople must choose his successor no later than January, but the Social Revolutionaries fear that under the pretext of “hard times” the authorities may cancel the popular vote. In most regional capitals, mayors have long been elected through a competition. However, the expert does not yet see the prerequisites for such a step.

The SRZP faction appealed to the leadership of the Tomsk City Duma with an appeal to hold an extraordinary session until October 21 and consider the issue of setting the date for the mayoral elections. The fact that the date has not yet been set is “a signal of the possible cancellation of direct elections,” the Socialist-Revolutionaries fear. In their opinion, the regional Duma (United Russia controls 27 out of 39 mandates there) can abolish the popular vote, citing “hard times” or budgetary savings.

“On the sidelines of bureaucratic offices, there is a popular rumor that the Regional Duma will abolish the election procedure and make the position appointable. Probably the governor will choose. A convenient solution is when the head of the region from the ruling party appoints the head of the city from the ruling party,” Inga Pervushina, a member of the SRWP faction, wrote on social networks. Probably, she meant a competitive procedure, during which the City Duma selects the mayor from the candidates selected by the commission, formed in half from representatives of the head of the region and deputies of the city parliament. The opinion of the “governor’s half” in this case is indeed, as a rule, decisive. At the same time, the appointment of the mayor directly by the governor is not provided for by federal law.

Recall that at the end of July, the verdict on the mayor of Tomsk, former United Russia member Ivan Klein, who was convicted of abuse of power (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and illegal participation in business activities (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) came into force. He was arrested back in November 2020 and removed from office, but did not lose his powers: all this time, his duties were performed by Vice Mayor Mikhail Ratner. At the end of December 2021, the Sovetsky District Court of Tomsk sentenced the mayor to two years in a penal colony and a fine of 200 thousand rubles, and on July 29, 2022, the regional court upheld this sentence. On the same day, Ivan Klein’s powers were officially terminated.

The head of the regional election commission, Rostislav Radzivil, explained earlier that six months were allotted for the elections. Thus, voting must take place no later than January 29, 2023. At the same time, the City Duma is obliged to set an election date at least 80 days in advance, that is, the deadline for making such a decision is November 10. In September, City Duma speaker Chingis Akataev (United Russia) said that the election date would be discussed at the October 11 session, but this did not happen. In response to Yabloko deputy Vasily Eremin’s remark about the delay in the process, Mr. Akataev replied that “there is no rush to set a date”: “We may well consider the issue on November 1.” According to the speaker, “consultations are ongoing” on this issue, but he did not specify what exactly is their subject.

Tomsk remains one of seven regional capitals where the mayor is still directly elected. They are also preserved in Yakutsk, Ulan-Ude, Abakan, Novosibirsk, Anadyr and Khabarovsk. In all other administrative centers, the head of the city is elected either from among the deputies (in this case, the position of a city manager is additionally introduced – a hired head of the city administration), or through a competition. The competitive model is used in most cases.

The staff of the City Duma reported to Kommersant that they had not yet received the SRZP’s appeals to hold an extraordinary session. The next meeting is scheduled for November 1, and its agenda has not yet been approved, the Duma press service specified. Kommersant was assured in the regional parliament that there were no initiatives to change the procedure for electing the head of the city. The regional branch of United Russia declined to comment.

The opposition factions of the City Duma are ready to fight for the preservation of direct elections. “We will defend it right up to going to court,” Tatyana Levchenko, leader of the Tomsk Yabloko party, promised Kommersant. “Our position is clear: we are for direct elections. We have always opposed the abolition of direct elections and have not changed our position. In the event of a vote, of course, we will vote against the cancellation, ”Ksenia Starikova, a member of the New People faction, told Kommersant. “Times are not the best for elections now, so there is still an opportunity to hold them at the end of January,” communist Andrei Petrov reacted to the initiative of the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

Tomsk political scientist Sergei Shpagin sees no real threat to the institution of direct mayoral elections. “It has been discussed for a long time, almost before every mayoral election. I tend to think it’s far-fetched. Wherever the federal center was interested in introducing city managers, they have already been introduced. And in Tomsk, the elections of the mayor and the city duma are a good lightning rod from the regional authorities and a convenient indicator of the mood of the population.” Residents of Tomsk value the elected mayor – it is no coincidence that even those who had previously criticized Ivan Klein began to support Ivan Klein during the trial, the expert adds: “So to cancel the election of the mayor means to undermine the legitimacy of both the appointee and indirectly the governor.”

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk