KS kept the intrigue

Opponents of the vertical of power have not lost hope of depriving the president of the right to dismiss governors

The consideration of the new system for appointing regional heads turned out to be a test of endurance for the Constitutional Court. At the instigation of the Union of Right Forces, which challenged the right of the Russian President to propose gubernatorial candidates to regional legislators and to dissolve parliaments in the event of their categorical disagreement with these candidates, the Constitutional Court found itself drawn not just into a whirlpool of political discussions, but also into a two-day judicial marathon.

At the same time, the complainants themselves, against the backdrop of government officials defending Vladimir Putin’s “vertical” idea, seemed extremely laconic. They voiced their claims to some provisions of the law “On the general principles of organization of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation” (for more details, see “Vremya Novostey” of November 16) . But the speech of State Duma representative Elena Mizulina, which smoothly flowed from Tuesday to Wednesday, literally exhausted the judges. After a lengthy speech by the new presidential representative to the Constitutional Court, Mikhail Krotov, Valery Zorkin even complained that the rules of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, unlike, for example, the rules of the Strasbourg Court, do not provide for a time limit for speeches.

Both lawyers “from the authorities” in their speeches emphasized the practical, rather than the legal side of the issue, never tired of singing the praises of the “vertical”. For example, Ms. Mizulina called it a symbol of the “triumph of democracy and law,” saying that the new procedure will help fulfill the task set by the president to make a “technological and economic breakthrough.” She periodically called on judges to remember Beslan, explaining that it was the appointment of governors that would make it possible to fight terrorism. “Russia is not Switzerland, unfortunately,” she informed the judges. - This is our cross. And if we want a stable political situation in all corners of Russia, we must accept the costs of introducing a new system for appointing governors.”

No less pathetic was the speech of Mikhail Krotov, who said that a negative decision of the Constitutional Court “could actually undermine the process of formation of power in the constituent entities of the federation,” since “the process has reached its climax” - 42 governors have already been appointed, and the necessary amendments have been made to 79 regional constitutions and statutes. The presidential representative is convinced that the law under discussion is in accordance with the Constitution, which does not indicate direct elections of regional heads. Mr. Krotov believes that the president has the right to dismiss the governor, since the head of the region is part of the country's executive branch. “If the prime minister is appointed by the president in agreement with the State Duma, why should a different order be established in the region?” - Mr. Krotov asked his opponents.

However, Elena Mizulina spoke even more harshly about the popularly elected governors and talked about how they drank for months, forgetting about the needs of their region. In response, Secretary of the Political Council of the Union of Right Forces Boris Nadezhdin noted that among the 42 appointed governors, only five were newcomers, and the rest had re-occupied their offices, and asked Ms. Mizulina to name the names of governors “who would drink for months, and after reappointment they stopped drinking.” This issue was removed by the court, and Mr. Nadezhdin was given a warning.

Compared to Krotov and Mizulina, the representative of the Federation Council in the Constitutional Court, Yuri Sharandin, looked stingy with epithets. Having recognized in principle that both models are equivalent - both the direct election of the governor and the confirmation of the head of the region of parliament, Mr. Sharandin still called for “not to make the voter’s right an absolute.”

After listening to the opinions of the parties, Valery Zorkin decisively closed the meeting, leaving a veil of secrecy over the main intrigue of this process. “The court has not answered whether it will consider the second and third parts of our complaint, which relate to the dissolution of regional parliaments and the removal of governors by the president for political reasons,” Boris Nadezhdin told Vremya Novostey. “If the Constitutional Court makes a decision on the merits on on these issues, that is, there is a high probability that these provisions of the law will be recognized as unconstitutional. As for the new procedure for vesting powers with governors, here the Constitutional Court has left itself virtually no way to retreat, twice - the first time in the summer, and the second time on Tuesday, refusing. suspend the appointment of governors."

Yuri KOLESOV