Translated material
Experimental Mandate
Sverdlovsk deputy is trying to challenge federal election laws using personal example
Several dozen deputies of regional parliaments, elected on October 8 from the Russian Party of Pensioners and the Russian Party of Life, can work peacefully only if they do not join the newly formed “A Just Russia”. Or if Sverdlovsk parliamentarian Evgeny Artyukh from the Russian Party of Pensioners manages to prove that the current legislation is controversial.The Vremya Novostey newspaper has already reported that after the unification congress of the RPP, RPZh and Rodina, an unpleasant legal conflict arose: the merging parties, which performed successfully in the elections on October 8, received seats in legislative assemblies, but because of their unification they risk losing all representatives in regional parliaments.
The fact is that amendments to the electoral legislation adopted this summer at the instigation of United Russia, on pain of losing their mandate, prohibit a deputy elected from one party from switching to another after the elections. Since A Just Russia was created on the basis of Rodina, deputies from the Party of Pensioners and the Party of Life had to apply to join the new party, which, according to the new law, would inevitably lead to the invalidation of their mandates.
A memo from the Central Election Commission on this topic was shown to party members at the unification congress. Recently, an expanded interpretation has appeared, clarifying that due to the liquidation of the RPP and RPZh as parties (they become public associations), deputies elected from their lists can remain non-party, but still do not have the right to join A Just Russia without losing their mandate.
They decided to create a precedent in the Sverdlovsk region: the leader of the local branch of the RPP Evgeny Artyukh, elected on October 8 (his party’s list took second place after United Russia), has already submitted an application for admission to the new party and, if deprived of his mandate, intends to challenge this decision, reaching to the Constitutional Court. According to the deputy, the law requires simultaneously leaving both the party and the party faction in parliament. If a politician remains in the faction, he cannot lose his mandate.
The executive director of the Moscow Bureau of Political Jurisprudence, Alexander Shemelev, says Mr. Artyukh’s chosen tactics are “a road to nowhere.” With equal probability, the process may end in either a loss or the request being sent to the Constitutional Court, which will delay the consideration for many months. At the same time, the expert notes, the decision to transfer the mandate will already be in effect.
The other day, the chairman of the Sverdlovsk election commission, Vladimir Mostovshchikov, gave his interpretation of the situation with the mandates of members of the RPP and RPZh for the first time. He has not yet commented on the topic of the future of parliamentarians, being inaccessible to journalists. The head of the commission says that, by law, having joined a new party, a deputy is obliged to inform his colleagues in the chamber in which they work, after which the legislative assembly decides to terminate the powers of this politician, and the electoral commission transfers a free mandate to the next candidate on the list. RPP. Provided that this next one also does not change his party affiliation. Vladimir Mostovshchikov does not like the interpretation of the law proposed by Evgeny Artyukh. “The law says: either/or. A deputy elected from one political party cannot be a member of another party, cannot leave the party faction,” the official explains his position, but notes: “There are always judicial prospects.”
The chairman of the commission does not promise a quick solution to the issue even if the mandate is deprived: without documents confirming the deputy’s admission to A Just Russia, the regional Duma cannot consider the issue.
At the same time, there was a precedent in the Sverdlovsk region when a deputy for several months combined work in parliament with work in the executive authorities, continued to attend meetings of the legislative body, vote, and his colleagues in the chamber refused to terminate his powers and even officially discuss the situation, considering this topic “ unethical." In that situation, regional prosecutor Pavel Kukushkin had to personally intervene, reporting violations to the deputy’s place of work - to Rosprirodnadzor.
Now it is also possible that the Duma will turn a blind eye to Mr. Artyukh changing his party affiliation. Some deputies of the regional parliament from United Russia are already saying that the parliamentary majority is ready to ignore violations of the law, provided that the regional budget for 2007 is easily adopted. Yevgeny Artyukh himself does not hide his new party affiliation to journalists, but has not yet officially informed parliament about it.
This is because his transition to A Just Russia is justified only under one condition - if he manages to head the regional branch of the new party. In principle, all the conditions for this exist: at the Moscow congress of the new party, the Sverdlovsk region was assigned to the RPP. But the Urals are unable to implement the capital’s agreements: neither the team of State Duma deputy Evgeniy Roizman (he himself is not a member of the RPZh, but controls the department), nor State Duma deputy Evgeniy Zyablitsev (Rodina) wants to give an important position with good prospects to a little-known politician.
While Mr. Artyukh is trying to organize a unification conference in the region with the choice of the leader of the cell, Mr. Roizman is holding negotiations in Moscow, seeking the transfer of the A Just Russia branch to its supporters, and Mr. Zyablitsev, as the head of the branch of the only party remaining intact, forms a cell according to his interests, already accepting new members into the party. The numerical superiority of the conference participants may allow him to lead the new formation.
At the same time, politicians constantly quarrel with each other. Yevgeny Roizman, who became famous for his pre-election fight at radio debates with Yevgeny Zyablitsev, has already sarcastically called their namesakes “giants of thought from Sverdlovsk democracy,” advising his colleagues in the new united party to put on backpacks and fly into space.
The leadership of the new party has not yet intervened in the dispute: the Sverdlovsk region is not on the list of problem areas where unification must take place urgently; elections are not planned here in March next year. A senior official in the Sverdlovsk governor's administration says the authorities are tired of watching the three Eugenes argue fruitlessly among themselves. “We have the most famous people in United Russia. Well, one or two will leave the party and join A Just Russia. We will control it too,” the official explains innocently. It is clear that, knowing about such a plan, the same Evgeniy Artyukh is in no hurry to surrender his mandate, leaving colleagues from other regions without a precedent.