Direct elections for the mayor of Chelyabinsk may be returned

The Russian government has approved a bill introducing mandatory direct elections of mayors in all Russian cities . The document was presented in May. It was prepared by the Ministry of Regional Development. Now the government must submit a bill to the State Duma. After this, it will be considered by deputies who can make amendments to it.

In accordance with the bill prepared by the Ministry of Regional Development, indirect elections are prohibited. In any case, the mayor must be elected by the votes of the residents of the city or settlement, the department believes. Subsequently, in accordance with the charter, he can head either the administration or the legislative assembly. In the latter case, the institution of the city manager is preserved.

It is not surprising that our initiative group to return direct elections of the mayor was denied . The local administration could not allow this initiative to come from its political opponents. That's why we received a natural refusal in July for formal reasons.