Tomsk prescribed competitive procedures – Newspaper Kommersant No. 201 (7402) dated 10/28/2022

The Legislative Duma of the Tomsk region on Thursday canceled the direct election of the mayor of the regional capital. Now the mayor of Tomsk will be elected in the same way as in most administrative centers of the Russian regions, through a competition. According to United Russia, who initiated the reform, this will make it possible to make “operational, well-considered decisions” under the conditions of the “basic readiness” regime. The expert does not exclude that direct elections of mayors may be canceled in other cities, for example, in Khabarovsk.

The bill of a group of deputies from United Russia (ER) was considered at the session on October 27 in two readings at once. It establishes a unified procedure for electing the heads of all municipalities in the region, including Tomsk, where the institution of direct elections was previously preserved. According to the proposed amendments, now the Tomsk mayor will be elected not by citizens, but by deputies of the City Duma, while candidates for the post will be determined by a special commission formed in half from representatives of the governor and municipal deputies.

The explanatory note states that the competitive system “will increase the efficiency of local government and the role of the representative branch of government”, as well as reduce costs.

However, the regional Duma speaker and co-author of the document, Oksana Kozlovskaya, explained the reform differently. According to her, the introduction of the “basic readiness” regime in the Tomsk region (see “Kommersant” dated October 20) requires strengthening the protection of public order and ensuring public safety, and this requires “prompt, verified decisions with the participation of all levels of public authority in the region.” A directly elected mayor is apparently unable to provide such solutions.

Recall that the powers of the former mayor of Tomsk Ivan Klein, convict for abuse and illegal business, were terminated at the end of July 2022. A new mayor must be elected within six months, that is, by the end of January 2023.

Against the abolition of direct elections spoke faction of the party “Fair Russia – For the Truth”. According to its representative, Marat Valiev, the cost of direct expression of will is about 0.1% of the city budget, and the “basic readiness” regime, unlike the new norm, is temporary. “Democratic elections are as great a conquest of mankind as the wheel and the internal combustion engine,” the Socialist-Revolutionary declared pathetically.

But the faction of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation unexpectedly supported the bill. “The Communist Party, both in the State Duma and in the region, has always advocated direct elections. But today we are in a completely different reality,” explained communist Natalya Baryshnikova, promising to “definitely return” to this issue “in peacetime.” Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New People did not take part in the discussion of the reform.

However, United Russia, which controls 27 out of 42 seats in the Regional Duma, could do without the support of other parties.

“Everyone wants to have order, so that the city has… Elections are such a mythical…” — Vladimir Reznikov tried, but could not give his own definition. One of the co-authors of the bill, Ekaterina Sobkanyuk, said that she did not see the desire of the “common people” to maintain direct elections. “Let’s support our governor, who received a huge vote of confidence from Tomsk residents,” she called on her colleagues. Earlier in his Telegram channel the head of the region, Vladimir Mazur, said that in today’s conditions he considers the election of the mayor of Tomsk through a competition “more preferable.”

At the same time, the proposal of the Tomsk State Duma deputy from the United Russia Vladimir Samokish to replace direct elections with a competitive procedure only for a certain period, until January 1, 2024, was rejected by the regional parliament. According to the regional administration, the amendment indicating the timeframe “may have a negative impact on the stability of the functioning of the local self-government system, which is unacceptable in the context of a special military operation and sanctions pressure from unfriendly countries.”

As a result, the Tomsk Regional Duma adopted the bill in two readings at once. In the first reading, only four deputies voted against, in the second – three. Now the City Duma of Tomsk must make appropriate changes to the charter of the municipality. It should be noted that on the eve of the city deputies from among the opposition tried to convene an extraordinary meeting of the City Duma to approve the date of the next direct mayoral elections, but they did not succeed due to bureaucratic delays.

After amendments to the charter of Tomsk, direct elections will remain only in six regional capitals – Khabarovsk, Abakan, Novosibirsk, Ulan-Ude, Anadyr and Yakutsk. But, according to political scientist Rostislav Turovsky, in some of them, for example in Khabarovsk, the head of the region can also insist on the abolition of direct expression of will. “The case of Tomsk is significant because it is a relatively liberal city. If everything goes smoothly there – and, most likely, it will be so – then there will be more cancellations of direct elections, ”the expert suggests.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk; Andrew Ashes