Tuvan residents continued their boycott of the Great Khural

Yesterday in Tuva, the meeting of the organizational session of the legislative chamber of the Great Khural was again disrupted. Despite calls from Plenipotentiary Representative Anatoly Kvashnin, deputies from the Russian Party of Life (RPZh) did not appear in parliament - they received the appropriate instructions from their leader Sergei Mironov. In turn, the government of the republic promised yesterday that “serious measures” would be taken against the deputies from the Russian Orthodox Church. Yesterday, deputies from the Russian Orthodox Church once again disrupted the organizational session of the legislative chamber of the Great Khural of the Republic of Tuva, appointed last Friday by the Presidential Envoy to the Siberian Federal District Anatoly Kvashnin. Only 13 deputies from United Russia (UR) came to the session - thus, there was no quorum.
Deputies from the United Russia faction who came to the session could not find anything better than to accuse the staff of the legislative chamber of “deliberately disrupting the organizational session.” The staff of the Tuvan Parliament apparatus themselves did not admit their guilt in the incident. According to the head of the information and analytical department of the legislative chamber of the Great Khural of Tuva, Vladimir Kochergin, “these deputies from the Russian Orthodox Church did not appear at the session, and they will not appear until the decision of the territorial election commission of Kyzyl to invalidate the election results is canceled in court in four districts." According to Mr. Kochergin, “proceedings on the claims of Zhizny residents in the Supreme Court of Tuva can drag on for six months, but when someone needs it, the claims can be considered in one day.” According to him, now the Supreme Court of Tuva is deliberately delaying the consideration of applications of deputies from the Russian Orthodox Church in order to “undermine their reputation in the republic.”
The Parliament (Great Khural) of the Republic of Tuva consists of two chambers. The upper legislative chamber consists of 32 deputies, half of whom are elected from party lists, the other half from single-mandate constituencies. Based on the results of the elections on October 8, the republic's electoral commission issued mandates to 27 deputies. United Russia received 14 seats, RPZh - 12, and one independent deputy entered parliament. The organizational session was supposed to take place on October 20, but deputies from the Russian Orthodox Church do not attend the meetings, thus trying to achieve a review of the election results in four districts of Kyzyl, where the local election commission for formal reasons canceled the victory of their colleagues. Let us recall that last Friday, the Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Siberian Federal District, Anatoly Kvashnin, suggested that Tuvan deputies hold an organizational session and then take a break until the Supreme Court of the republic makes a decision on the applications of the Zhizny residents. However, deputies from the Russian Orthodox Church did not appear at the meeting, citing party leader Sergei Mironov. According to the head of the regional branch of the Russian Revolutionary Movement in Tuva, Zoya Sat, Mr. Mironov recommended that the party members continue the fight for the fairness of the elections in court, “therefore, we consider it impossible to work in legal chaos.” “To hold meetings before justice is restored means to agree with the manifestation of lawlessness and disrespect for the will of the people,” said Ms. Sat.
Local authorities are trying to resolve the parliamentary crisis in court. According to the head of the internal policy department of the office of the Prime Minister of Tuva, Oleg Khopuya, the head of the republic, Sherig-ool Oorzhak, has already sent a request to the constitutional court of the republic. “The head of Tuva asks the court to interpret some provisions of the local law. On November 23, the statement of the Prime Minister on the interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic will be considered. After this, serious measures will be taken at the government level against disobedient deputies,” Mr. Khopuya concluded.
Kommersant will continue to monitor developments.
Nonna Goncharenko, Krasnoyarsk

Kommersant (Novosibirsk) No. 218 dated November 22, 2006, p. 15

“It is impossible to work in legal chaos”