Harmonize it

The Russian authorities continue the struggle for the "harmonization of interethnic relations." In the last couple of years, many proposals have been expressed: the possibility of establishing the position of the Commissioner for Nationalities or the formation of various permanent commissions on this problem has been considered. Last year, the Presidential Administration created a special department for national politics, headed by the ex-head of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov. And to maintain calm on the streets, attempts were made to introduce the "Cossack patrols." In a word, there are all signs of a responsible attitude to the problem.

The new proposal, which the press is discussing in recent days, can change a lot in the formulation of the national question. The bill introduced by a group of deputies, including the chairman of the Duma Committee on Nationalities, Hajimet Safaraliev, actually proposes to transfer responsibility for interethnic relations to the regions. First of all, on governors who are now again receiving power “from the hands of the people” (at least from a formal-legal point of view).

The head of the Committee on Nationalities proposes to call this measure "an increase in the responsibility of governors for the prevention of interethnic conflicts." The bill was developed in February this year, but in the first reading it will be considered only on July 5. At the spring session, deputies will no longer have time to deal with him and, apparently, the process of “increasing responsibility” of the heads of subjects will end in the fall.

This step is quite consistent with the provisions of the “Strategy of the State National Policy of the Russian Federation for the period until 2025”, approved by the president last December. This document set the task of “delimitation of powers and responsibility” between the federal bodies and the authorities of the subjects, and also called for “clarify the competencies of local authorities” in the field of national policy.

The bill proposed by deputies makes amendments to four legislative acts: “On the general principles of organizing legislative and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation”, “On the general principles of organizing local self -government”, “On the state civil service” and “On the municipal service”.

By and large, these amendments contain similar lists of responsibilities for regional officials of various levels. These lists include the wording of “protecting the equality of rights and freedoms of a citizen ... regardless of race, nationality, language and attitude to religion”, as well as the need to “harmonize interethnic relations”.

Of greatest interest is the "governor's part" of the bill. The head of the region, according to legislators, must “ ensure the warfare ” in the above -mentioned areas (“from the intake of human rights” and “harmonization of interethnic relations”). In addition, it is assigned the responsibilities of “ preserving and developing the ethnocultural diversity of peoples in the territory of the subject”, “prevention of interethnic conflicts and ensuring interethnic consent”, as well as “social and cultural adaptation and integration of migrants”.

Moreover, in accordance with the amendments to Part 2 of Article 26.3 of the Law “On the General Principles of the Organization of Legislative and Executive bodies of state power of the subjects”, the head of the region must “independently at the expense of the budget of the subject” (apparently, at the same time, it was decided and saved).

It is impossible not to notice that such duties do not look very natural within the framework of the existing list of the bureaucratic functions of the governor, which are now fixed in the law. But the Kremlin would be very convenient for two reasons.

The first is obvious. The federal authorities are trying to cope with all the listed “national questions” for a long time and unsuccessfully. And the new law, at least, can facilitate the task of searching for “negligent leaders” if the next Kondopoga suddenly happens. The meaning in such a redistribution of responsibility appeared precisely after the return of the governor’s elections, because the resignation of the head of the region, which the president actually appoints, throws a shadow to the federal government.

The second reason is the possibility of monitoring disloyal governors (a special case is the fight against the separatism of the national outskirts). The press about this will probably still be said during the consideration of the bill. Of course, in the current conditions, the probability that the Kremlin will receive a “hostile region” according to the results of local elections is very small. But still it’s better to play it safe.

According to Article 19 of the same Law “On Executive Bodies of Subjects”, the highest official of the region may be removed by the president “for the improper performance of their duties”. And when the circle of responsibilities includes such non -specific concepts as “development of ethnocultural diversity” and “cultural integration of migrants”, there is no need to talk about the objectivity of decisions.

The new initiative of the Ministry of Regional Development should help to get at least some kind of specificity . The ministry decided to slightly finalize the presidential decree "On the assessment of the effectiveness of the activities of the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation." The document contains instructions for the “individual assessment” of the work of governors on the basis of a variety of criteria - from the “total area of ​​residential premises per resident of the region” to the “share of the population systematically engaged in physical education and sports”.

The Ministry of Regional Development proposes to add two more points to the existing list: “The level of tolerant attitude to representatives of a different nationality” and “The share of citizens who positively assess the state of interethnic relations”. True, these “P Providers” will be determined based on the results of sociological surveys, but these are already details.

The volumes of “non -specific duties”, with which the Duma suddenly wanted to load the leaders of the subjects, force them to doubt the prospects of the bill. Moreover, according to some experts, among its initiators there are no “status deputies” who ensure the “cross -country ability” of the law in the lower house. But, nevertheless, the temptation to “kill two hares” - to get rid of direct responsibility for the most difficult national question and get an additional tool for monitoring the elected governors - will hardly disappear without a trace.