Direct mayoral elections were canceled in Novosibirsk

The Legislative Assembly of the Novosibirsk region approved a bill that cancels the direct elections of the mayors of Novosibirsk and Koltsovo.

As the authors of the document stated, it was adopted in order to increase the efficiency of the work of local self-government bodies.

On February 20, in Novosibirsk, pickets against the cancellation of the elections were held in front of the legislative assembly building. At the same time, young people stood at the entrance to the building with placards in support of the war in Ukraine. Opponents of the cancellation of the elections believe that this was done on purpose to hinder the actions of activists opposing the draft law.

Earlier, the committee of the Legislative Assembly on State Policy recommended adopting the draft law. The document was supported by five members of the committee – representatives of United Russia and LDPR. Communists opposed the cancellation of elections.

According to the draft law, the heads of Novosibirsk and Koltsov will be elected with the help of councils of deputies from among the candidates proposed by the competition commission (half of which is formed by the governor, a member of United Russia, Andrey Travnikov).

• Novosibirsk is the only millionaire city, apart from Moscow and St. Petersburg, where direct elections of heads remained. The last election of the mayor of Novosibirsk was held in 2019. Anatoly Lokot, a member of the CPRF, was re-elected for a new term at them, gaining more than 50 percent of the votes. The second place was taken by the head of Navalny’s local headquarters, businessman Sergey Boyko, who received 18.5 percent of the vote. In the fall of 2021, Boyko left the country due to the threat of criminal prosecution.
• Koltsovo is a working village 25 kilometers from Novosibirsk, which has the status of a science city. It has been headed by Nikolay Krasnikov since 1991.
• In October 2022, the Regional Duma of the Tomsk Region, in which “United Russia” has a majority, canceled the direct elections of the mayor of Tomsk. The head of the city will now be chosen by a special commission using competitive procedures.
• Now only residents of the cities of Siberia and the Far East can directly elect heads: Khabarovsk, Yakutsk, Abakan (Khakasia), Novosibirsk, Anadyr (Chukotsky Autonomous District) and Ulan-Ude (Buryatia). And also Moscow and St. Petersburg, which are administratively considered regions of Russia.