Yaroslavl stood in line for layoffs – Newspaper Kommersant No. 205 (7406) dated 11/07/2022
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As it became known to Kommersant, in the Yaroslavl Regional Duma, elections to which are scheduled for autumn 2023, discussions have begun on the issue of reducing the proportion of deputies elected on party lists from the current 50% to 25%. Also, the option of reducing the total number of deputies is not ruled out either while maintaining the current proportion of single-members and “listers”, or with its change in favor of the majoritarian system. Over the past three years, more than a dozen regions have already taken decisions to reduce the party component in legislative assemblies.
A bill to change the procedure for electing deputies of the Yaroslavl Regional Duma has not yet been submitted, but deputies in factions are already discussing a future reform, Elkhan Mardaliev (KPRF), head of the committee on legislation, state power and local self-government, told Kommersant. According to him, two options are being considered. The first one provides for a reduction in the share of deputies elected on party lists from the current 50% to 25%. In total, the Duma has 50 deputies, that is, 37 of them are proposed to be elected in single-member districts and only 13 – according to the lists. The second option involves a reduction in the total number of deputies, either while maintaining the current ratio of single-members and “listers”, or, again, with a decrease in the share of the latter to 25%.
“Which option they will stop at is still unclear. But the amendments are planned to be adopted in December-January,” Mr. Mardaliev explained. The reform will require amendments to the regional charter, which requires a qualified majority of 34 votes. United Russia has 32 mandates in the regional duma, ten mandates for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, three for the Liberal Democratic Party and A Just Russia – For Truth, and one more for “Communists of Russia”. Thus, in order to adopt amendments to the charter, United Russia will have to enter into negotiations with the opposition. At the same time, Elkhan Mardaliev is not sure that the reform, especially the option of reducing the total number of deputies, will be supported by all members of the ruling party faction.
The speaker of the Yaroslavl Regional Duma, Mikhail Borovitsky (United Russia), confirmed to Kommersant that “various options are being discussed.” He called the reduction of the total number of deputies a priority. Mr. Borovitsky connected this with unification at the federal level: “Gradually, I think we will come to the conclusion that the difference in the legislative assemblies of the subjects of the federation will not be the same as today.” In his opinion, 30-40 deputies should sit in the parliaments of the regions. At the same time, United Russia Duma vice speaker Olga Khitrova told Kommersant that she was not aware of the discussion of the electoral reform.
Recall that the minimum quota for “listed persons” in the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation provided for by federal law was reduced from 50% to 25% back in 2013, but the regions began to use the new norm only at the end of 2018 against the backdrop of falling ratings of the authorities after raising the retirement age. Since then, the proportion of deputies elected on the lists has been reduced in 11 regions, including the republics of Altai and Mari El, Khabarovsk and Primorsky territories, Novgorod and Saratov regions. As a rule, United Russia initiated the reform, referring to the desire to “strengthen ties between deputies and voters.”
It should be noted that the new law on public authority allows the regions to completely abandon party lists, but so far this option is resorted to only at the municipal level. So, in 2022, the lists were canceled in the elections to the municipality (City Duma) of Yaroslavl. According to the voting results on September 9–11, United Russia received 34 mandates out of 38 (89.47%), although in the elections to the State Duma-2021, according to party lists, United Russia won only 29.72% of the vote in the Yaroslavl region.
Political scientist Alexander Kynev considers the campaign to reduce the share of “list members” in legislative assemblies “a course towards departization.” “The meaning is simple: in majoritarian districts, United Russia wins on average about 80% of the seats, and in the lists – 50%, or maybe even less. Accordingly, the transfer to the majority part has absolutely political reasons, the task is to preserve the maximum share of deputies from United Russia, ”explains the expert. He is also negative about the idea of reducing the total number of deputies: “This reduces the representativeness of deputies. Parliament is not only a decision-making body. It is an institution through which new people enter politics. This is the freezing of the political system.”
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