| The mayor of Amursk has fooled the Khabarovsk authorities around his finger In the Khabarovsk Territory, a scandal is breaking out between the regional authorities and the mayor of the city of Amursk, Gennady Kuzminykh. Until last week, it seemed that the regional leadership managed to persuade the mayor to resign, but recently it became clear that the mayor, having essentially deceived Governor Viktor Ishaev, was not going to give up without a fight.
The rebellious communist mayor, who for three years had been in conflict not only with the governor, but also with the opposition council of deputies, became famous for the fact that, with a huge budget deficit and large debts on wages for social workers, he increased the salaries of himself and administration officials three times, and also invested considerable budgetary funds for the botanical garden, of which he was the director before the elections.
At the end of last year, residents of Amursk demanded the introduction of direct gubernatorial rule in the city. A corresponding letter, signed by more than two thousand citizens, was sent to Viktor Ishaev. A similar appeal was received from local deputies. In response, Mr. Ishaev signed an order to hold a referendum to recall the mayor, scheduling the vote for March 14, 2004, the same day as the presidential election.
Gennady Kuzminykh was scared, but did not want to lose his warm place. After much bickering, he agreed with the deputies to jointly resign, but on the condition that the governor cancel the order for the referendum. A letter was sent to the regional administration from Amursk, explaining the decision taken at the local level.
The governor, finding this solution to the situation quite reasonable, immediately canceled the order to hold a referendum. However, Mr. Kuzminykh did not keep his word. Upon learning of Mr. Ishaev's decision, the mayor stated that the letter was invalid since he had withdrawn his signature. And he did this just two hours after it was sent. The governor, as it turned out, knew nothing about this, although the mayor claims that he called the regional administration about this.
As a result, the government of the Khabarovsk Territory found itself in an ambiguous situation: on the one hand, the referendum, which was planned to be combined with the presidential elections, was cancelled, and on the other hand, the Amur mayor clearly has no intention of resigning. The situation is complicated by the fact that now, in accordance with Russian legislation, the governor of the region will no longer have time to reschedule a referendum on the recall of Gennady Kuzmin for March 14. The regional administration says they will return to the problem immediately after the presidential elections. Yuri ALEXEEV, Khabarovsk |
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