Churov and partners

The process of forming new regional election commissions has been completed

On Wednesday, the Central Election Commission practically completed the formation of regional election commissions - after several scandals, the Electoral Commission of the Stavropol Territory was the last to be formed . The CEC also reappointed the head of the Dagestan election commission, Magomed Khalitov, who had difficulty trying to keep the scandalous regional elections of March 11, 2007 within the legal framework.

The right to form the Stavropol Regional Election Commission passed to the Central Election Commission after the decision of the governor and the regional Duma to appoint their representatives was overturned in court. According to the head of the Central Election Commission, Vladimir Churov, difficulties with the formation of the commission were the result of “serious political turmoil in the region.” Indeed, as the Vremya Novostey newspaper has already written, Governor Alexander Chernogorov and the Stavropol Duma, who are in a state of struggle, were unable to decide on candidates for the election commission. In particular, the representative of the Stavropol regional branch of the Union of Right Forces, Roman Dikansky, was not on the governor’s list. His candidacy was proposed by party members to the governor in accordance with the current legislation, and the head of the region had no right to ignore it, since the party sent two deputies to the regional Duma in the last elections. This means that the governor was obliged to include her nominee in the electoral commission of the region. The Political Council of the Union of Right Forces went to court, demanding the cancellation of the governor's decree, and achieved a positive decision.

By that time, however, the period during which regional authorities could form an electoral commission had expired, and the Central Election Commission did it itself. Mr. Churov said that the number of professionals in the commission formed by the Central Election Commission has almost doubled - those who already have experience working in election bodies. At the same time, the CEC tried to take into account as much as possible both the proposals of the governor and the political parties represented in the legislative body. In particular, the representative of the Union of Right Forces, Roman Dikansky, was also included in the approved composition of the commission. Only the position of the LDPR representative remains vacant, since his documents simply have not yet reached Moscow, Vremya Novostei told Vremya Novostei Member of the Central Election Commission Igor Borisov. The last, 14th member of the Stavropol commission will be appointed by the Central Election Commission at the next meeting on August 2. At that time, applicants for the position of chairman of the commission will be considered. According to CEC member Valery Kryukov, once every four years such a situation develops in two or three constituent entities.

Also, at a meeting on Thursday, the Russian Central Election Commission proposed candidates for the chairmen of the election commissions of Dagestan and North Ossetia. The current chairman of the North Ossetian electoral commission, Konstantin Kadiev, was unanimously re-appointed - there were no problems with the elections in his region. The same cannot be said about Dagestan.

CEC member Siyabshakh Shapiev, who represented the candidates, recalled that Magomed Khalitov, recommended for the post of chairman of the Dagestan election commission, enjoys the support of the president of Dagestan and has work experience: “Magomed Khalitovich has been working in this area for four years.” The most difficult test for Mr. Khalitov was the elections to the Dagestan parliament on March 11, 2007. Skirmishes began even before the registration of candidate lists began, and inter-ethnic struggle resulted in inter-party struggle.

First, the Communists and the Union of Right Forces were removed from the elections, forcing candidates from one or two regional groups to refuse to participate in the campaign, which, according to Dagestan laws, automatically leads to the exclusion of the entire party. The communists managed to achieve the restoration of their rights in court, and the Union of Right Forces lost not only the right to participate in the struggle for deputy mandates, but also the deputy head of its regional branch, Magomed Omarmagomedov , whose burned car was found in the forest near Kizlyar. In Kizlyar and the Dakhadaevsky district, pre-election shootings took place with the participation of representatives of the Union of Right Forces and United Russia, their relatives and supporters. In Kizlyar no one was injured, but in the Dakhadaevsky district there were two killed and four wounded. In Makhachkala, the car of the head of the election headquarters of Patriots of Russia, Eduard Khidirov, was fired upon; the politician was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

“The elections were difficult. 12 criminal cases were initiated. Violations were revealed, but Magomed Khalitovich took all measures to ensure that the violations were eliminated and the election process took place in a legal manner,” said Siyabshakh Shapiev. True, after the elections, the results in several polling stations were canceled, and there was even a threat of canceling the results throughout Dagestan. But the threat was over. Apparently, for the happy outcome of the case, Mr. Khalitov was left in charge of the Dagestan election commission.

Daria GUSEVA