The new legislation will weaken the position of town, city and village mayors, which from now on can be easily dismissed by the local lawmakers. Meanwhile, the mayors will themselves have no possibilities to dissolve the local parliaments. That puts the mayors in a dependency-relation to the town councils, which in most cases are dominated by the government-loyal United Russia party.
The bill was presented to the State Duma on by President Medvedev on 27 January. It is expected to become law before the upcoming round of regional parliament elections due 1 March.
According to Vladislav Surkov, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, the bill is part of Medvedev’s bid to reform the Russian political system. The reforms also include new and more democratic procedures on the appointment of members to the Federation Council, as well as the extension of the presidential term and terms of parliament deputies, Politcom.ru reports.
As noted by Mikhail Yurevich, Chelyabinsk city mayor and leader of the Ural Association of Cities, the new law will put the mayors in an all unenviable position in all places where the governor controls the town council. Consequently, “disloyal” mayors will easily be kicked out of their offices by the governors and their local parliament allies.
Critics say that the law is adjusted to the interested of the United Russia Party which seeks to enhance its power also in the municipalities. Head of the Public Chamber’s Commission on Local Government, Leonid Davydov says to Kommersant that the “dominating party now seeks to secure control over the executing power in the municipalities”.
-We are building a united power vertical, a United Russia party representative confirms to the newspaper.
Previously several legislative initiatives on the abolishment of direct mayor’s elections have been turned down by the federal parliament. With the new law, Moscow might eventually streamline its power in the municipalities without having to abolish the local elections.
However, the law could also backfire on the governors and the United Russia Party. In times of crisis, the political establishment is likely to lose popularity and subsequent election support. That might open the way to regional power for opposition parties.
