The authorities will discuss the cancellation of direct elections of governors in Russia - RBC and Kommersant

At a meeting of the Council of Legislators with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 27, the abolition of direct elections of the governors may be announced. This was reported by Kommersant and RBC with reference to anonymous sources.

According to the interlocutors of RBC, at a meeting of the Council, which includes the chairmen of both chambers of the Russian parliament, their deputies, the heads of the State Duma committees and the Federation Council, the heads of the Legislative Assembly of the regions, can discuss in which format the elections should be held on a single voting day in September, and whether they should be held at all. At the same time, we can talk about the cancellation of direct elections only this year, and not about the complete rejection of this procedure, one of the sources said.

The interlocutors of the publication do not exclude that the governors will formally propose to solve the issue of the election scheme at their discretion, but informally recommend that the campaign can be canceled.

Sources of Kommersant also reported that the issue of canceling direct elections of governors can be considered on April 27. Back in March, several governors asked the Kremlin to consider the possibility of their election by legislative meetings of the regions.

The final decision will have to be made by the president.

The possible reason for which such decisions can be made is the fears of the authorities, that by September, when a single voting day takes place in Russia, citizens can feel the effect of sanctions to a greater extent, two sources of RBC said. Currently, authorities are high, but it is difficult to predict what will happen by the fall, one of them noted. According to another source, the cancellation of direct elections of governors will help save money that would go to the campaign.

Direct governor elections were already canceled in Russia in 2004 after a terrorist attack with the capture of hostages at the Beslan school. Then a new model appeared: on the proposal of the president, the candidacy of the head of the region was approved by deputies of the Legislative Assembly. In 2012, after protests, direct elections were returned.

The “Medusa” reported that in Russia in Russia can be canceled or transferred to the governor's elections planned for September 2022.

• The elections of the heads of regions are scheduled for September in the Vladimir, Tambov, Yaroslavl, Kaliningrad, Kirov, Novgorod, Ryazan, Tomsk, Saratov and Sverdlovsk regions, as well as in the republics of Karelia, Buryatia, Udmurtia and Mari El.
• The Russian armed invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 by order of President Vladimir Putin. In response to the United States and Western countries, stiff sanctions against Moscow, which affected not only politicians and officials, but also ordinary citizens.