Deputies of the Legislative Assembly approved the governor's project for reform of local self-government

The reform of the local government system in the region will take place according to the rules of the regional authorities. Yesterday, the Legislative Assembly of the Perm Territory considered five bills on municipal reform submitted to parliament by deputies Alexei Burnashov, Ilya Shulkin, Alexey Lukanin, the Communist Party faction and the Council of Heads of Municipalities of the Kama Region. Most parliamentarians supported the latter option, developed with the direct participation of the regional authorities. Kommersant experts believe that after the final adoption of this law, all municipalities will lead to a unified scheme for electing heads from among the deputies.

Yesterday, the regional parliament made a decision on an option for reforming the local government system in the region. During the voting, the overwhelming majority of people's representatives supported the bill “On the procedure for the formation of representative bodies of municipal formations of the Perm Territory and the procedure for electing heads of municipal formations of the Perm Territory,” developed with the participation of the governor’s administration and submitted to the legislative assembly by the council of heads of municipal formations. The bill adopted in the first reading proposes a system according to which the head is headed by a representative body of power, and the administration is headed by a city manager hired under a contract (in municipalities with a population of over 10 thousand people). In settlements with a population of up to 10 thousand people, the head simultaneously heads both the administration and the representative body. This bill establishes a three-month transition period for municipalities during which they will be able to bring their charters into compliance with the new requirements. At the same time, the procedure for electing heads, provided for by the charters of municipalities, remains unchanged at the time the bill comes into force.

Let us recall that the federal legislator instructed the regional authorities to decide for themselves the course of municipal reform. In the Perm Territory, a real struggle unfolded around the proposed innovations: five alternative bills were submitted to the Legislative Assembly. Four initiatives, the general trend of which is direct elections in cities and districts, were prepared by deputies Alexei Burnashov, Ilya Shulkin, Alexei Lukanin and the Communist Party faction. The Council of Heads of Municipalities of the Kama Region presented its version of the local self-government reform. He was supported by members of the Public Chamber of the Perm Territory and the largest parliamentary faction of the United Russia party. Literally on the eve of the plenary, the governor of the Perm Territory, Viktor Basargin, spoke out in his support.

Before considering the high-profile issue, the deputies decided to hear all five bills submitted to parliament and then make a decision on them. At the same time, parliamentarians agreed that if one of the five bills receives the largest number of votes, voting on the others is no longer held. During the discussion of legislative initiatives, it was the bill of the council of heads of municipalities that caused the greatest controversy. Its chairman, the head of the Perm region, Alexander Kuznetsov, said that the bill was approved at least at 13 sites and received the support of the heads of most municipalities and members of the public chamber. “Personally, I didn’t feel the discussion. It was not in Berezniki, nor in the Usolsky district. Have you met with people, with groups?” — Deputy Oleg Kovalev asked Alexander Kuznetsov. “Our bill has 57 reviews, of which 37 are without comments, 20 with minor comments,” the head of the Perm region responded to this. Deputy Vadim Chebykin turned to the head of the governor’s administration, Alexei Frolov, with the question: “To what extent was the opinion of the residents of the Perm Territory taken into account when developing this bill?” The official explained that the opinion of the population was expressed by deputies of representative bodies and heads of municipalities. “We, of course, did not conduct sociological surveys. But if you think that deputies at different levels are not representatives of the opinion of the population, you and I have different approaches,” noted Mr. Frolov. The speeches of deputies from the United Russia faction somewhat reduced the degree of discussion. Elena Gilyazova said that, as “an obedient member of the faction, she, of course, will vote for the adoption of this bill,” but at the same time reserved the right between the first and second reading to introduce an amendment allowing municipalities to amend their charters and change principles at any time elections of heads. The head of the faction, Yuriy Borisovets, emphasized that the bill gives municipalities the right, during the transition period, to bring their charters into compliance with the adopted law and consolidate or change their existing system of forming power. He was supported by Ravkat Razutdinov, proposing “to give the opportunity to deputies of representative bodies of municipalities to share responsibility with deputies of the legislative assembly.” As a result, the governor’s version of municipal reform was supported by 39 out of 48 deputies present at the meeting. The remaining bills received a much smaller number of votes, and the initiative of the Communist Party faction was not even put to a vote.

According to Alexei Burnashov, the author of one of the rejected bills, the current legislative assembly had the opportunity to “leave a good mark behind itself.” In three years, according to the deputy, the regional parliament may return to consider this issue again. “But we won’t be the heroes of that movie,” the parliamentarian notes sadly. According to political strategist Viktor Sokolov, the regional authorities “carried out a brilliant operation.” “With the adoption of the law, all municipalities will be brought to the same denominator, that is, to a single scheme for electing heads from among the deputies,” the expert believes.

Dmitry Nikitin

Self-government – ​​Kommersant Perm

Self-government – Kommersant Perm