The work of the Novosibirsk district council began with a scandal

The work of the Novosibirsk District Council of the Novosibirsk Region of the new convocation will continue, apparently, in conditions of severe inter-party conflict. Its first session ended with a demarche of deputies from all opposition factions who left the hall after United Russia ignored their proposal to share leadership positions. However, they do not intend to boycott the further work of the council.

At the first session of the Novosibirsk regional council of deputies, United Russia ignored the opposition’s demand to share the portfolios of the vice speaker and a number of heads of commissions
Photo: Yuri Martyanov, Kommersant / buy photo

As Kommersant reported, last Friday the first session of the Novosibirsk regional council ended in scandal. It was planned to resolve organizational issues there. First of all, elect leaders - the speaker, his deputy and the heads of six commissions.

The Novosibirsk District Council, which has a population of about 122 thousand people, consists of 30 deputies. It is formed according to a mixed system: half based on party lists, half based on single-member constituencies. As a result of the elections on September 13, 17 seats in the district council were won by United Russia, nine by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, three by the Liberal Democratic Party, and one mandate went to A Just Russia.

The election of the speaker was predictable. United Russia nominated the chief expert of the district administration, Alexander Sobolev, to this post and voted for him in full. Communist Oleg Ivakin received all the votes of opposition deputies, but they were not enough.

“Even before the session at the conciliation working group, we raised the question that the posts of vice-speaker and heads of a number of commissions should be given to representatives of opposition parties, but the group did not make a definite decision, and this resulted in a scandal at the session,” Kommersant said yesterday LDPR deputy Oleg Agureev.

Unexpectedly for the opposition, former district administration official Andrei Alekseev, who previously worked as the head of the department of physical education and sports, was also elected vice-speaker at the suggestion of Mr. Sobolev. All commissions were also headed by United Russia members, although, according to the communists, the members of some commissions themselves elected their leaders from the opposition. In particular, the credentials commission was to be headed by Mr. Agureev.

As a result, deputies from opposition parties left the meeting room in protest. “Such a unanimous protest of opposition forces against the usurpation of power by United Russia, which is inspired by the head of the district Vasily Bormatov, has never happened in my memory,” Dmitry Savelyev, a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the LDPR, who was present at the inaugural session of the district council, told Kommersant yesterday.

“This was due to opposition deputies’ disagreement with the candidacy for the post of chairman of the district council, which was nominated by United Russia at the local party conference. But there was a quorum, and this made it possible to make a legitimate decision,” the regional branch of United Russia commented on what happened. It was impossible to get a comment from Mr. Bormatov yesterday.

However, judging by the comments of opposition representatives, they do not intend to boycott the further work of the district council. “We will look at the behavior of United Russia members at subsequent sessions and draw conclusions,” Mr. Savelyev told Kommersant. He did not rule out that opposition deputies will now “oppose United Russia on key issues” that require a two-thirds vote. “The very first session of the district council showed the desire of the team of the head of the district Vasily Bormatov for maximum control, which will find opposition from the opposition,” the regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation promised. Last Sunday, a plenum of the Novosibirsk district committee was held, but, judging by the official report of the regional committee, the situation in the district council was not discussed at the meeting.

The date for the next meeting of the Novosibirsk regional council has not yet been set.

Yuri Belov, Novosibirsk

The opposition finds no place for itself