If it is decided not to postpone them until spring

Elections to the Moscow City Duma may take place as early as October this year. Despite the fact that in the spring, Mayor Yuri Luzhkov introduced amendments to the parliament to the capital's electoral code, providing for the extension of the powers of the Duma until March 2010, they have not yet been adopted. The opposition is confident that the Moscow authorities have changed their minds about postponing the elections to the spring of 2010.

The powers of the current convocation of the Moscow City Duma (MGD) end in December 2009 (he was elected in December 2005), and it was initially assumed that the elections would take place on the first Sunday of October 2009. This is due to the fact that the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in Referendums of Citizens of the Russian Federation” gives regional parliaments the right to reduce or extend the powers of deputies within six months and to postpone elections in order to hold them on a single voting day in the fall or spring. However, in March 2009, the mayor of Moscow introduced amendments to the capital's electoral code, allowing the powers of the City Duma to be extended until March 2010. The speaker of the Moscow City Duma, Vladimir Platonov, explained this then by the fact that “autumn is the most unfortunate time for elections, since it is in October that deputies work on the Moscow budget.”

State Duma deputy, first secretary of the Moscow city committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Vladimir Ulas reported to Kommersant that the capital authorities decided to hold elections to the capital parliament in October this year, with reference to “serious people from the Moscow government.” According to him, the return to the original election scenario is due to the fact that the crisis will not end by March 2010, but, on the contrary, an even greater deterioration of the socio-economic situation is possible. “The authorities now see October as relatively prosperous in this regard,” the deputy explained. “In addition, October will be a surprise for the majority of election participants, and they will have less time to prepare for the elections. While United Russia has no problems - neither organizational nor material." And the leader of the Yabloko - United Democrats faction in the Moscow City Duma, Sergei Mitrokhin, drew Kommersant's attention to the fact that the second reading of the bill allowing the extension of the powers of the Duma until March 2010 has not yet passed. “It is quite possible that the elections will be in October, which, of course, changes our schedule for preparing for the elections,” Mr. Mitrokhin noted.

Moscow City Duma Speaker Vladimir Platonov told Kommersant yesterday that there is no decision on the date of the elections yet and it is “bold” to assume anything now. “We are carefully weighing the situation, including the economic one, when we study all the pros and cons, then we will make a decision. We have no more than two to three weeks for this,” Mr. Platonov noted. According to Kommersant's information, the meeting of the Moscow City Duma, at which a resolution on the date of the elections will be adopted, will be held on July 8 (elections to the Moscow City Duma can be scheduled no later than 90 days before the date of the elections). “They will announce it on the last day when it is possible, so that everyone else, except United Russia members, will have to contrive,” the communist Ulas was indignant. And the speaker of the City Duma assured Kommersant that “there is no trick against anyone”: “We, with the participation of the communists and Yabloko members, will choose the date of the elections - it will be an open decision, not a behind-the-scenes decision.” Mr. Platonov noted that for those who work every day, and not just during the election campaign, elections are “not a terrible event.” When asked by Kommersant why changes to the electoral code have not yet been adopted, the speaker replied that “work is underway with amendments, and when they are submitted to the Duma, they will be considered.”

Political scientist Alexander Kynev is confident that the only motive for holding elections in October is “fear of a deterioration in the socio-economic situation in Moscow”: “By the end of the year, along with unpredictability in the economy, an increase in protest sentiment is predicted, so elections in March seem more problematic to the authorities than in the fall.” .

If the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Yabloko are preparing for both scenarios of holding elections, then the unregistered opposition organizations - Solidarity and the People's Democratic Union - proceed from the fact that the elections will be in March. The opposition intends to nominate candidates in single-mandate constituencies (the current composition of the Moscow City Duma has 15 single-mandate deputies and 20 elected from party lists, however, according to amendments made to the Moscow City Duma, the number of the latter may be reduced to 18), but they admit that registering them will not be easy. The electoral deposit for elections has been abolished, and now all but four parties that have factions in the State Duma will have to collect signatures. For example, for single-mandate districts with 400-500 thousand voters, it is necessary to collect signatures in the amount of 2% of the number of voters. “Signatures are a noose around the neck that can be tightened at the last moment,” notes Sergei Mitrokhin. “We will collect them, but what will happen to them next is not up to us.” And a member of the Solidarity bureau (on Saturday it announced participation in the capital elections as its strategic goal) Ilya Yashin, who intends to run for the Moscow City Duma in the University District, emphasized that “the price of the issue is high not only politically, but also financially,” since the capital’s parliament often resolves issues that are more significant than the State Duma.

Maria-Louise Kommersant-Tirmaste

The Moscow elections will be a race against the crisis