Press Release, 17.03.2025

Photo: The Constitution of the Russian Federation with amendments of 2020 /Photo by Pavel Lysitsin, RIA Novosti

Today Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov sent an appeal to the President of Russia asking to reject the law on the liquidation of local self-government. Yabloko believes that the new law completely subordinates local self-government to the state bodies, finally turning it into a lower and powerless level of state power, and also widens the gap between government bodies and society, destroying the natural instruments of citizens’ influence on the government.

It should be noted that on 5 March, 2025, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted the Federal Law “On the General Principles of Organising Local Self-Government in a Unified System of Public Authority”. The law was first introduced to the State Duma in 2021 by the co-chairs of the working group on amendments to the Constitution Pavel Krasheninnikov and Andrei Klishas. The next reform of local self-government will, in addition to other things, entail  liquidation of settelements’ councils and administrations with the transfer of powers (including budget management) to a higher level.

Nikolai Rybakov notes in his address to President Putin, that the new law directly contradicts the norms of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, according to which local self-government bodies are not part of the system of state power bodies. In addition, according to the Constitution, the structure of local self-government bodies is determined by the population independently, in accordance with the general principles established by federal law.

The new law on local self-government does not correspond to the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, according to which “the competence of local self-government should include such issues that arise from the nature of the institution, have a direct connection with the local community and ensuring its vital functions”, “local self-government bodies must be meaningful, and promptly and efficiently resolve issues related to the living being of people” (Resolution of the Constitutional Court of Russia No. 2-P, dated March 29, 2011).

According to the new law on local self-government, heads of municipal entities become subordinates of the highest officials of the regions, one person can combine municipal and state posts, which is legally impossible, and can be dismissed at any time and for any reason. In addition, the possibility of electing city heads by the population directly is canceled in the administrative centres of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

Also, the list of fixed and inalienable powers of municipalities to resolve issues of local importance established in Federal Law No. 131 “On the General Principles of Organising Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” is replaced by the right of regional authorities to withdraw most of the powers of local self-government, financial powers inclusive, at their own discretion at any time.

Thus, Nikolai Rybakov concludes that the federal law replaces the constitutional principle of independence and autonomy of local self-government with its direct subordination to the state authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

The new law, which effectively eliminates local self-government in Russia, was approved by the Federation Council on 14 March, 2025, and the document must be sent to President Vladimir Putin for signing and publication within five days.

Nikolai Rybakov calls on Vladimir Putin to reject the law.

It should be noted that Yabloko has fought against this local self-government reform from the very beginning. The party’s deputies in the Pskov, Novgorod and Ryazan regions did a lot of work to develop arguments and explain what was happening to population. Konstantin Smirnov, a deputy of the Dubrovichi rural settlement in the Ryazan region, was able to gather together about 400-500 residents from different settlements to public hearings against liquidation of local self-government. In late January, a criminal case was opened against Smirnov, the court sent him to a pretrial detention centre for two months, after which the rural settlement in Dubrovichi was almost immediately liquidated.

An important stage on the way to the actual liquidation of local self-government was the “resetting” of the Constitution in 2020 and introducing amendments to it, including those on the reduction of independence of local self-government and its integration into the vertical of power. Then, Yabloko members throughout Russia held a large series of pickets, speaking out against the amendments.