About the immediate surroundings

A month ago, a draft law of the Orenburg region “On some issues of holding public events and on amendments to the Law of the Orenburg region “On the procedure for filing a notification about holding a public event in the Orenburg region” was sent to the office of the Legislative Assembly, at the same time addressed to its chairman Sergei Grachev.

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The person who introduced the project is Governor Yuri Berg, and the person responsible for its presentation in Zaksoba is Vice-Governor and Deputy Chairman of the Government Dmitry Kulagin. This is understandable: who else if not the first persons to introduce such bills to give them maximum political weight and an unambiguous message: this should definitely be adopted.

Meanwhile, it seems that the adoption of this document by the United Russia parliamentary majority will result in a specific political miscalculation with certain consequences, which the initiators of the draft either did not bother to take into account, or, more likely, for a number of reasons (and who explained these reasons to us and when?) considered it necessary ignore.

The authors of the United States Constitution deservedly appear in all American textbooks. The authors of the Russian Constitution are also not so difficult to discover with a little persistence. And here? I always wanted to talk with the original authors of documents like this, to hear their true motives, even on the condition of anonymity - it’s so interesting and informative! Of course, Yuri Aleksandrovich and Dmitry Vladimirovich expressed a number of wishes for the future law - but which ones exactly? But who and for what purpose included the remaining novelties of the bill into the draft?

It seems that the unknown collective author is again doomed to remain unknown. However, the true authors and initiators do not sit here. Basic provisions are brought down to the localities from the center, and the whole question is how many of them will be able to “push through” in the region: all 100% or the Legislative Assemblies will sacrifice some part of the “changes”.

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The bill establishes:

- the maximum number of participants in public events for which notification is not required is 100 people, the permissible minimum distance between two participants in single pickets is 50 meters.

Places where public events are prohibited:

- where this may lead to disruption of the functioning of life support facilities, transport or social infrastructure: train stations, airports, shopping, entertainment or sports complexes, markets, children's, educational, medical, cultural institutions, sidewalks, bus stops and - attention! – also the territory directly adjacent to the specified objects and roads.

- territories directly adjacent to the buildings of government bodies, the FSB, investigative bodies, internal affairs bodies and the prosecutor's office and military units.

“Adjacent” – how much is that anyway? Will we count meters with our feet, like football referees at the beginning of the last century?

Maybe you shouldn’t be so tight?

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The position of Igor Sukharev, not only the deputy chairman of Zaksob, but also a member of the committee on local self-government, in whose capacity he voted at the committee for the proposed project.

- Did you defend the bill?

- I didn’t defend, I expressed my point of view. Certain questions arose regarding this bill, and the committee decided to withdraw it from consideration at the next meeting of the Legislative Assembly. But this bill will be passed. It is necessary to accept it.

- Exactly in the form in which he arrived?

- Not that, but by making certain changes to it. They can be introduced without prejudice to both the law itself and the parties: both those that oppose it today and those that adhere to its provisions.

- But theoretically, it’s possible not to add new toughening provisions to this regional law at all? Whether or not to introduce additional restrictions into the Federal Law of June 8, 2012 is left to the discretion of the deputies themselves.

- The initiator of the bill was the governor. If changes are made to it, we will support them. I think they will not worsen the bill. As far as I know, some of the proposed regulations are expected to be relaxed.

- Does this mean that you find the initially proposed norms excessive?

- I believe that the proposals made by the governor limit absolutely nothing. But their democratization, in my opinion, is quite possible...

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It’s this law that everyone is trying to break their spears, Igor Sukharev said further, but it does not obligate anyone to anything at all. If you go to our rallies, you see that “a hundred people attend them and a hundred and fifty people look after them.” The fact that the changes tighten federal law is one vision. And there is the vision of the project initiator. And the proposed norms, in my opinion, do not tighten anything at all, but merely regulate some provisions of the federal law.

If the project, as recommended by the self-government committee, is not submitted to the meeting on October 24 - “Well, it will be amended, it will be introduced later, that’s okay. We will discuss it at the faction on October 23. But I’ll say it again: the committee’s decision is only advisory in nature.”

The indignation of the head of the communist committee, Vladimir Novikov, is understandable:

- When they write about the adjacent territories of cultural institutions, it turns out that events can no longer be held in Leninsky Square? They write about the territories adjacent to the administrations - is it no longer possible to hold rallies on Lenin Square? I asked representatives of the state legal department at the committee - they are silent, they do not answer!

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The trouble with the proposed restrictions is that they:

1) inconclusiveness. Well, who is bothering whom at both Lenin monuments? On Belovka? When the column passes along Sovetskaya? Can the initiators even name at least one case when a rally INTERFERED WITH SOMEONE?

2) insincerity. The reasons are completely different: a) out of sight, out of sight, everyone out of town, fed up! b) senior comrades indicated to do so; c) so that they know who they really are to us.

3) redundancy in quiet times and

4) provocativeness and confrontation with increasing tension in society.

5) you can’t do this to fellow citizens, actually

6) yes, at the same time, all sorts of demonstrations will be put an end to forever... But by the way, this is not a problem, is it?

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In short: on Tuesday, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Sergei Grachev told reporters at a short morning briefing that the law must be adopted, at least in the first reading.

And it is on the agenda. Which means he will be accepted on Wednesday. Maybe they’ll remove some little thing for the sake of order, like sports complexes (who the hell needs them, hold rallies there, really). Or the maximum number of participants in public events will be increased, as Frolov suggests, from 100 to 500 people. Still, more than 350 people have not yet attended the rallies.

But that’s all. One damn thing: when it comes to real rallies, no one will need this law..