There are many parties, but there is no one to defend the people and their rights!?

There are many parties, but there is no one to defend the people and their rights!?

/There are 31 regional branches of political parties registered in North Ossetia, but for some reason all of them are inactive.../

There are many parties, but there is no one to defend the people’s right to choose power!?

As you know, any party, as a political organization, directly sets itself the task of seizing political power (both in the country as a whole and in its constituent entities) or taking part in it through its representatives in state authorities and local self-government. The party, as such, can and must realize this basic and main task through participation in elections. In other words, popular elections are the mechanism (instrument) without which the very existence of any political party is meaningless in principle. Based on this, it is absolutely obvious that it is political parties that should be not only the first supporters, but also the most ardent (read: interested) defenders of direct, popular elections. But, this is, as they say, in theory. But in practice, as life shows, this is not always the case. And an example of this is the current situation in North Ossetia. In the republic today there is, one might say, a shameful situation: they want to deprive the people of their constitutional right - the right to choose power, but there is no one to protect their rights and interests!? And this despite the fact that in RNO-A, as mentioned above, all-Russian political parties are represented by 31 regional branches. But, paradoxically, almost all of them are absolutely inactive and for some reason (as if by agreement...) do not take any practical steps to prevent the violation of the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens.

The just returned direct elections of heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation are cancelled.

And so, we are talking about direct, popular elections of regional heads, which, without having time to resolve, some people (and there will always be many who want to) are trying to cancel again. Cancel, as they say, on the “initiative” from below... Cancel for now in a single region of the country - in the republics of the North Caucasus. Let us recall that at the end of December last year, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation adopted a law that allows regions to cancel gubernatorial elections. That is, the bureaucracy has achieved the abandonment of yet another important component of the comprehensive political reform announced by the authorities just a year ago. It is known that even before the adoption of the law on the return of direct, popular elections of heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in its previous form the legislation directly contradicted the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Russians were deprived of their main constitutional right: to elect and be elected. They were deprived of the right to both choose power and the right to self-nomination. And the bureaucracy wants to consolidate this situation further. Yes, Russian residents of the republics of the North Caucasus, after the adoption (at the level of constituent entities of the Russian Federation) of this Law, will continue to be deprived of their constitutional right: to elect and be elected. And the “reasoning” for the refusal of direct elections of heads of subjects of the Russian Federation is as follows: these “natives” (Russians - residents of the republics of the North Caucasus) are not yet mature enough to be entrusted with elections... And such “argumentation”, paradoxically, is accepted by everyone as a matter of course, as something natural and taken for granted. Yes, for some reason this “argument” doesn’t offend or offend anyone?! And no one (!?), including deputies from the republics of the North Caucasus, is indignant or protests against such a gross insult to their peoples, a gross insult to the Russians living on the territory of these republics? Yes, for some reason unknown to all other Russians, officials allow themselves to classify residents of the North Caucasus republics as “second-class” citizens, who with the stroke of a pen (read: pressing the vote button) are “servants of the people,” including elected from these same regions, they are depriving quite a bit of the constitutional right to elect and be elected. And everyone is silent and pretends that everything is fine.

Behind the refusal to elect a head lies one thing - the fear of losing power.

In our opinion, it is impossible, in principle, to allow “some regions of the country to live by one rules, and other regions by different rules.” Such selectivity should not be allowed, because this is discrimination against Russians based on their nationality. The North Caucasus does not need the “conservation” of tribal and feudal anachronisms, but, on the contrary, it urgently needs to overcome them! We are absolutely convinced of this. We believe that there are no real grounds for refusing direct, popular elections of heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The real reason ("ground") for the proposed (by the authorities of a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation) refusal to directly elect heads of regions is in fact one thing - the fear of losing power. And this is precisely what “explains” the activity (in “pushing through” the law on the refusal of direct elections) of the leadership of precisely those republics where there are problems with the efficiency of governance and, as a “result” of this, with trust in the authorities on the part of residents of the region. Without any doubt, North Ossetia also belongs to such regions. Yes, the basis of the “argumentation” of the authorities of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia in support of the rejection of direct, popular elections of the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation “hides” one thing: the fear of losing power! And the current rulers of North Ossetia have every reason for such fear, fear of losing power: North Ossetia today is actually a bankrupt region and in the republic there are all the signs of a full-fledged financial and economic crisis... Namely, in such a situation in the past In 2012, the Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation A. Siluanov, in the presence of the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin, speaking about the huge public debt of these two subjects of the Russian Federation (Mordovia - 127% and North Ossetia - 118%), proposed declaring the insolvency of the head of the subject that had brought the region to such a state... It was precisely the “result” of such a depressing state of affairs in the republic that became a sharp decline in trust in the authorities of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia on the part of the population: in the October 2012 elections of the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia “United Russia” (the list of candidates was headed by the Head Republic) received less than 50% of the votes, having lost as much as... 20% of the votes compared to the results of the elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (in December 2011)! And in such a situation, the authorities of North Ossetia-Asia have no choice but to cling to every opportunity in order to somehow maintain themselves in power...

Democracy is the rule of the majority.

As the main argument and “ground” in favor of abandoning direct, popular elections, the authors of the bill and supporters of such a refusal cite the complex, multinational composition of the population in the republics of the North Caucasus and the fear that the elections will complicate relations between different ethnic groups, because, supposedly, the election will be won by “a representative of a numerically larger nation”, since “they will vote for him on a national basis”... But isn’t the situation in Russia as a whole exactly the same?! After all, in the Russian Federation, Russians, being the titular nation, constitute not just a majority, but in fact a constitutional majority of the entire population of Russia - 79.8%. And isn’t it precisely the representative of this larger (Russian) nation (as in a number of republics of the North Caucasus) “doomed to become one (the elected leader), because they will vote for him on a national basis”? And what? Then it turns out that in Russia as a whole we need to abandon direct, popular elections of the President of the Russian Federation? After all, it turns out that representatives of other (non-title) nations have absolutely no chance of becoming the President of Russia? Isn’t it exactly the same “picture” with the national composition of the population in very, very many other countries, when the number of one nation exceeds the number of another (or others), but for this reason Democracy (as “majority rule”) is not in civilized states only they do not cancel it, but, on the contrary, consider it the most acceptable form of social life. And mainly for the very reason that it (Democracy), being the power of the majority, most optimally and maximally reflects the opinion of the whole society living in a particular state. But it can and will only be such (the power of the people) when it is elected by the people themselves! Elected in direct, popular elections...

The policy of "double standards" undermines confidence in the Center.

According to experts, the “policy” of mutual political bargaining between the Center and the Caucasian elite groups (clans) has led and will continue to lead, among other things, to the internal decay of the elites themselves and their further neglect of the interests of society. Influential local clans are outside the control of the federal center, are weakly amenable to direct force control by law enforcement agencies, and the leaders of the North Caucasus republics, speculating on the “complexity of the situation” in the region, are actually blackmailing the Kremlin and “forcing” it again and again to refuse to hold events here urgently needed changes. And the main one of these urgent changes, in our opinion, is to return the authorities to the control of society. And this can and should be done only in one and only way: to return to the people their constitutional right - the right to choose power! And thereby restore the dependence (read: control) of the authorities on the residents of the region. Without this, it is impossible in principle to change the situation in the North Caucasus in a real and meaningful way! We are convinced of this. And the fact that this is exactly so has been shown by life itself, by the fact that all other “methods” do not work and do not give the desired result. And such a policy (“double standards”) will continue to undermine trust in the Center on the part of residents of the North Caucasus republics, a significant part of whom are not associated with the “clans” (and their division of power and property among themselves) and expect real action from Moscow on improving the level and quality of life of the majority of the region's population. We have always believed and still believe today that “A return to direct, popular elections of regional heads is a vital necessity!” Yes, this is the only way to “make” governors work effectively. And the fact that this is exactly the case has been clearly proven in recent years, when direct popular elections of regional heads were abolished in Russia. And that is why the need for a Comprehensive Political Reform has become self-evident, the meaning of which, by and large, is to return Russians to the process of governing the country. And all regions of the Russian Federation are in dire need of this, including and even primarily the republics of the North Caucasus.

The people did not delegate to the Parliament of RNO-A their right to elect the head of RNO-A.

In North Ossetia, the authorities themselves are opposed to direct elections. And, as mentioned above, they have every reason for such fear, fear of losing power: in the republic there are all the signs of a full-fledged financial and economic crisis, and in terms of quality of life (according to the rating of regions of the Russian Federation published at the end of 2012), North Ossetia turned out to be the most alarming region of Russia - with a level of population satisfaction with the quality of life of only 5% - this is the lowest indicator in the Russian Federation, taking the very last 82nd place in this indicator. And it is precisely for these “reasons” that they cling to every opportunity to somehow maintain themselves in power and it is for this reason that they “initiated” the rejection of direct, popular elections of the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, thereby casting North Ossetia in a negative light, in which, it turns out, the residents have not yet matured and are not mature enough to be trusted with the elections of authorities... So, as stated above, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation has already adopted a law that allows regions to cancel the elections of governors. Not today or tomorrow, this law will be adopted by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. And after it is signed by the head of state and the Law arrives in the regions of the Russian Federation, it will be in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that they will decide whether or not to elect a head in direct, popular elections. And the main thing here is WHO exactly in this or the region will decide this!? In other words, we are talking about whether this issue will be resolved with the participation of the population of the region or whether the authorities of one or another constituent entity of the Russian Federation, ignoring the opinion of fellow citizens of their region, will decide it themselves at their own discretion. Yes, this is precisely the main thing, and although this is more than obvious, this is the main thing that the authorities of North Ossetia-Asia want to silence and ignore. And this, in our opinion, is eloquently evidenced by the recently publicly expressed position of the head of the government of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia, who, speaking about the “right to choose a region,” and, in fact, meaning by this right the right of the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia, (freely or involuntarily) “conceals” the main thing, namely, that the law being adopted deprives the people of this right (the right to choose)! And representatives of the ruling party in the Parliament of RNO-A (the leadership of the regional branch of United Russia) no longer even consider it necessary to hide their intention to deprive the people of the republic of the right to elect the head of the republic in direct, popular elections. They voiced this position at the previous round table held in North Ossetia-Asia on this topic. Alas, at this “table” (as well as outside it...) there was no one (!?) who would clearly and clearly declare to the representatives of the party in power that the people of North Ossetia in no way and in any way authorized the Parliament of the North Ossetia-Asia to deprive themselves (the people) of their constitutional right - the right to choose power! Yes, the people of North Ossetia did not delegate this constitutional right (the right to choose power) to the “servants of the people” in any way, which means that the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia does not have the right to arbitrarily arrogate this right to itself! And he has no right, without asking the people (are they for or against direct, popular elections of the head of the republic?), to consider and decide the question of where and how to elect the head of the Republic of North Ossetia.

The tribune in the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia is not used by parties either.

We believe that residents are almost all in favor of direct, popular elections of the head of the republic. By the way, residents of the North Caucasus republics demonstrate and confirm this position wherever possible... So (according to information from the media), when discussing this issue on the Caucasian Politics website, not one of the callers spoke in favor of canceling direct elections, on the contrary - everyone advocated that the leaders of the republics of the North Caucasus should be chosen by the people, and not by deputies. The region's residents chose it in popular elections. But, unlike citizens, political parties, almost without exception, for some reason remain silent and do not even try to declare their position on this, without exaggeration, fateful issue. Yes, what has been said can be equally addressed to almost all parties. The so-called parliamentary parties are no exception to this. Yes, as paradoxical as it may seem, the opposition parties represented in the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia (and these are the regional branches of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, A Just Russia and Patriots of Russia) and positioning themselves (in words, at least) as defenders of the people, instead In order to most actively resist the intention of the authorities of North Ossetia-Asia to deprive the people of the republic of the right to elect the head of the region and, relying on the public, on its opinion and support, to prevent the abandonment of direct, popular elections, for some reason they are absolutely inactive and do not even try protect the people and their constitutional right - the right to choose power!? And even at the “round table” mentioned above, opponents of the party in power did not clearly and clearly state the main thing - that the authorities of North Ossetia-Asia intend to deprive the residents of the region of the opportunity to choose “their” government. Yes, contrary to all logic, representatives of these parties are absolutely inactive and for some reason do not take any practical steps to prevent the violation of the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens!? They are not trying to do this, although Head of State V.V. Putin directly called for this (mandatory consideration of the people’s opinion).

There is still no real public policy in RNO-A!

But even without the call of the President of the Russian Federation, the protection of the people and their main constitutional right - the right to choose power - is not the main task and responsibility of a political party (any and every one), as such!? But, apparently, the parties and their factions in the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia remember this main task (and then in words) only during the election campaign, but in practice the entire past period (and autumn and winter are already behind) all their activities has been reduced in practice to the struggle for committees and “offices” in the Parliament building... Yes, it turns out that it is precisely this “struggle” (along with the reception of voters...) that limits all political activities of political parties in North Ossetia-Asia and their parliamentary factions. And as a result of this, in the republic (if by and large) there is still no real and full-fledged public policy! And the residents of RNO-A, just as they did not take any part in what was happening in the republic, remain “outside observers” of what the authorities of RNO-A are “doing.” “They do this”, ruling the republic unchallenged and bringing it to the state: “RNO-A is a bankrupt region.” “They do this” with the tacit consent and political inaction of parties calling themselves opposition!? Alas, today in the republic everything remains as it was and practically nothing changes. Nothing has changed - contrary to the expectations that the residents of the republic had based on the results of the elections to the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia in October 2012...

Such inactivity is akin to a betrayal of the interests of the people.

And without all this, without the participation of the parties represented in the republic, in the real protection of the main constitutional right of the people - the right to choose power, all the rest (including voter receptions, etc.) their work does not have due significance, as well as a significant result . This is exactly the case, and it is absolutely obvious to everyone. And respected “servants of the people” must be fully aware of the price and extent of their responsibility for what is happening in the republic, responsibility for their political inaction to protect the interests of the people. Realize that if, nevertheless, the authorities of North Ossetia deprive the people of North Ossetia of the right to choose power, then this will be fully on their conscience! And “shifting” responsibility onto the shoulders of only those who directly carried it out (read: the authorities of North Ossetia-Asia) will not succeed. It will not succeed, because these parties will bear this responsibility in full, along with the authorities of North Ossetia-Asia. They will bear the burden due to their current absolute political inactivity, inactivity to protect the right of the people of North Ossetia-Asia to elect the head of the republic in direct, popular elections. But it is not enough to call such inactivity a political mistake, but it is such without any doubt. Such inactivity is (if we call things by their proper names), in our opinion, the most direct betrayal of the interests of the people. And this “position” of parties that call themselves opposition, no matter how or how they themselves “explain” it, causes nothing but regret and condemnation. Yes, no matter what actually is the basis of this position of these parties (fear, fear of being punished...), such behavior is unacceptable and undignified in every sense... We believe that everyone who declares themselves to be politicians (and therefore called upon to engage in politics), everyone who is a member of one or another political party is obliged to finally come to their senses (read: wake up from sleep) and, remembering their duty to voters, immediately begin to act... We believe that You have no right to remain idle like this. You are obliged to defend the right of the people of North Ossetia to choose power - to choose the head of North Ossetia-Asia in direct, popular elections. Otherwise, each (!) of you and all of you together will bear the shame of, if not betrayal of the people, then at least criminal non-resistance and connivance with those who, for their own selfish purposes, are ready to neglect everything they can and trample on everything, whatever is possible. We cannot allow such a shameful page to appear in the history of the republic...

The right to choose government is a constitutional right of Russians. All Russians!

We believed and continue to believe that in the republic there were and are no real grounds for refusing direct elections! The adopted law (which was “initiated” by the authorities of North Ossetia-Asia) deprives the people of the right to choose! Deprives the people - the main bearer and source of power - of the constitutional opportunity to choose power. Deprives residents of the region of the opportunity to choose “their” government. This is illegal and unfair in every sense... And precisely in order to prevent violations of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, to prevent injustice, we believe that it is necessary to find out and take into account the opinion of the people! We believe that under no circumstances should the decision of this fateful issue for the republic (as well as for each region) be left to the “discretion” of the deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia. It is imperative(!) to find out and take into account the opinion of the residents of the republic. Yes, based on the fact that there are no real grounds for refusing direct, popular elections of governors throughout Russia as a whole, and in the regions of the North Caucasus (as an integral and integral part of the Russian Federation), we believe that this issue of fundamental importance can be resolved should be decided solely taking into account the opinion of the people! We absolutely agree with Russian President V.V. Putin, who suggested: “Let’s have such a discussion – absolutely open, transparent and honest – and then make an appropriate decision.”

We believe (and literally everything and everyone in the republic speaks in favor of this...) that the absolute majority of residents of North Ossetia are in favor of direct, popular elections of the head of the republic. And the fact that this is exactly how the residents of the republic can and should confirm with their signatures and votes... We are confident that in North Ossetia, as in the vast majority of regions of the Russian Federation, residents (voters) will definitely speak out in favor of direct, popular elections of the head republics. Let's ask the people: are they for or against direct, popular elections of the head of the Republic of North Ossetia-Asia?

Astemir Tsomaev -

Executive Director of the North Ossetian Republican Public Fund for Supporting V.V. Putin’s Plan - D.A. Medvedeva “Russian Development Strategy until 2020” 03/13/2013