“The law would enforce autonomy of the Caucasus”
by VK
The return of gubernatorial elections has been a topic of active discussion among the political elite for about a month ever since Medvedev announced the need for complex political reforms. In turn, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed public discussions of the bill. An expert meeting was held to talk on the initiative yesterday.
Gennady Gudkov, a member of Fair Russia, says that the bill proposed by the president can only be called “a reform” by a very optimistic person, because the governor took the right for governor elections in the first place, as well as majority districts for parliamentary polls and many other democratic institutions with the excuse of trying to enforce the “top-down command structure” to fight terrorism. The new bill is based on the principle of the “president’s filter”, allowing the future president (which is obviously Putin) to regulate governor elections for at least 6 years, preventing political parties from introducing undesirable candidates. But the most amazing formulation in the bill, according to Gudkov, is that the mechanism of consulting governors between parties and the president will be set by the president himself (the document does not clarify the mechanism). The terms of passing of the bill have not been clarified, but the government is starting to change governors in haste to postpone coming of the bill into force by at least 5 years, giving desirable people governor seats. “In reality, the law will not work”, Gudkov reckons.
Alexander Kynev, head of regional programs of the Foundation for Development of Information Policy, said that the bill will not be a concession of the government, but will be more of its imitation. The scheme of governor appointment has proven its inefficiency and started causing problems for the federal center. It was obvious that it would be changed. Kynev believes that dropping popularity of United Russia was, to a large extent, caused by the cancel of governor elections. The fact that talks on gubernatorial elections started right during opposition protests in Moscow was an attempt “to kill two birds with one stone” – solve the electoral problem and make it look as though the government is making concessions for opposition. “It is an attempt to restore the lost connection between governors and regional voters”, Kynev said. 58 out of 83 governors have never been elected by the population.
Georgy Chizhov, Vice-President of the Center for Political Technologies, noted that the bill was being prepared with haste and has not undergone the procedure bills normally do. The expert notes that it demonstrates certain perplexity in the government and it is not surprising that Putin talked about the “president’s filter” as a resolved matter from the very beginning. The second version of the bill presents the “filter” in a slightly different matter, violating the Russian Constitution. Parties “have the right” to consult introduction of candidates with the president. Chizhov noted that the Russian government is adjusting itself to changes in the political system post factum and the bill will most likely be out of date by the time it comes into force.
Political analyst Yevgeny Minchenko noted positive aspects of the bill. He believes that it will give a carrier boost for 30-40-year old businessmen trying to realize themselves in politics, who had no chance to go through elections within parties. The system is based on the principle of loyalty to the government. Local administration will be more efficient because elites of the center and regions will need to find compromise.
Political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky told VK that the bill will in fact enforce autonomy of the Caucasus, especially in Muslim regions and augment separatist tendencies. He believes that Muslim regions of the North Caucasus have already become separated from the political and legal space of Russia and the separatist tendency will only grow, unlike it does in other regions. Concerning the main objections towards governor elections (crime and business will influence the regional governments) Belkovsky noted that the distinction between crime, legal business and bureaucracy disappeared in the 2000s, which is a result of Putin’s ruling, he believes. “If such candidate is introduced to the federal center, crime interests, we may say, will be taken into account”, the expert said.
