One hundred years without elections

President Dmitry Medvedev called the system of appointing governors absolutely correct. During a conversation with members of the Valdai international discussion club, he firmly made it clear that there was nothing to expect for elections of regional heads, Kommersant writes on September 16.

According to the president, there is nothing democratic or liberal in the popular election of governor. And besides, it, according to him, does not correspond to the traditions of Russia and the level of development of federalism. As for federalism, let's say. The matter is murky. But if we talk about the traditions of Russia, then a logical question arises: does the system of popular election of an all-Russian ruler correspond to them? Russia for several centuries was a state with a hereditary monarchy, for that matter. And for several decades, the main leader was elected at the plenum of the Central Committee of the ruling party. (By the way, Medvedev at the same meeting did not rule out that the next president would be a party member.)

Be that as it may, Medvedev, in his own words quoted by Kommersant, does not see “conditions under which we could abandon this decision.” And not only now, which could be attributed to an incomprehensible “level of development of federalism.” And even in a hundred years, according to the president, residents of the regions will not be worthy of choosing their own governor. “Despite his democratic convictions,” Medvedev sees no point in returning to electing governors through the people’s will. “That’s a pretty harsh statement, but that’s what I think,” he said.

I wonder if the current appointment mechanism will change. If, according to Medvedev, “there is a trend” associated with the affinity between the president and the party, and this trend is “perceived by people,” should we expect that even in a hundred years the party that won the regional elections (or rather, long before the regional elections) will present several candidates to the president (and at the same time to the party leader), and the president will choose the best one from this list and propose it to the regional parliament (and the parliament, of course, will approve this candidacy)? Is this procedure, which lasts almost a week, consistent with Russian traditions? Maybe then let it be clear which party will be the first secretary of the regional committee? Or just an appointed governor, without any games with parliament? Tough and undemocratic, but honest.