Municipalities are outraged by the reform “on fire”

The Moscow City Duma (MGD) yesterday adopted amendments that deprive 58 metropolitan municipalities of state powers. The Council of Municipal Deputies issued a statement in which it accused the Moscow authorities of “outright political deception” and imposing innovations on district assemblies that turn local government into a “decorative body.”

The initiative to return to the Moscow government the powers delegated to municipalities in 2005-2007 came from the Council of Municipal Formations, headed by Alexei Shaposhnikov. Local self-government in 58 districts lost, in particular, the powers of guardianship and trusteeship, organization of sports and leisure events. Chairman of the Moscow City Duma, United Russia member Vladimir Platonov, supported the bill, stating that “Moscow is going its own way.” “There has always been a lot of criticism,” he noted. “Life has shown that all the criticisms were not confirmed. We will continue to improve the local government system.” Let us remind you that on January 23, the Moscow City Duma adopted in the first reading amendments, according to which state powers were taken away on their initiative from three municipalities, and later 55 more joined them.

Deputy from United Russia, ex-deputy mayor of Moscow Anatoly Petrov, who, according to member of the European Club of Local Self-Government Experts Ildar Faseev, “built the LSG system in Moscow under Yuri Luzhkov,” did not agree with the innovations. He called the document adopted by the Troparevo-Nikulino deputies on which the bill was based “nonsense” (see Kommersant of January 22). The deputy left the hall yesterday and did not vote for him. However, United Russia refused to comment, saying that he was “bound by party discipline.”

The head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction, Andrei Klychkov, told Kommersant that the communists decided to support the bill after two meetings with municipal deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation: “Most of the deputies spoke in support of the experiment. Our main task is to let self-government develop, but for this we need to take a step, albeit sideways and even back." He believes that “when something is taken away, they should take a step forward later”: “We will meet with the municipalities to develop proposals.”

It should be noted that after the first reading, amendments were made to the bill, according to which municipal assemblies are given the right to hear the heads of state institutions involved in the maintenance of specially protected natural areas, as well as the heads of state educational institutions. In addition, they will be able to agree on a list of premises intended for organizing leisure, social, educational and sports activities. Mr. Shaposhnikov told Kommersant that the transition period will last until May 1, during which municipalities will have to transfer state powers back to the city. In addition, according to the amendments, municipalities will become apparatuses of municipal assemblies, their staff will be reduced, and meetings of deputies will be broadcast on the Internet.

The Council of Municipal Deputies (SMD) of Moscow has already issued a statement in which it stated that municipalities “faced the fact of direct political deception”: “The process, which just yesterday Moscow officials defined as an experiment, has today become a universally imposed practice.” The municipalities point out that “the imposition of the abandonment of municipalities is proceeding like crazy,” and note that officials “are trying on Sergei Sobyanin the dubious laurels of Yuri Luzhkov, who has made a lot of efforts to transform the local self-government into a decorative body.” Co-founder of the SMD, deputy of the Otradnoye district, Mikhail Velmakin, told Kommersant that the decision was hastily made in his district.

Taisiya Bekbulatova

The Moscow City Duma cut off local self-government