Statement by the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO from January 31, 2014, 07.02.2014

Another local government reform has been initiated in Russia by the federal authorities and President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

Its key issues have been already announced as follows: elimination of elected local governments on the level of cities and regions, including those in the capitals of the regions that have their own division into city districts.

We should note here that in most cases division of cities into districts of is absolutely senseless from the economic (including budgetary) and the social point of view.

Under this reform, cities and districts will be headed by governors’ appointees who will become appointed rather than elected officials.

Local authorities on the level of settlements will be given symbolic proxies and some financial resources, but in political terms they will have no rights.

The structure of state power bodies coupled with transfer to appointing rather than electing cities and districts governments will completely eliminate the remaining self-governing structures.

The essence of reform is clear: sharp reduction in the ability of citizens to influence local authorities, primarily through elections, elimination of a significant part of the regional political field, complete liquidation of political competition and political space on the local self-government level.

Public control over the newly formed second regional level of the state power will be virtually impossible, arbitrary rule of bureaucracy will increase and become almost total.

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO believes that such a reform is contrary to the interests of citizens and represents another attempt to destroy the very principles of local self-government and civil society, and strikes a blow at the regional politics and federal relations.

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO demands from the President, the State Duma, the Federation Council and the Russian Government to develop local self-government in Russia on the following principles:

1. Maintaining the bilevel local self-government on level municipalities and urban districts where it now exists.

2. Determining unalienable financial basis of local self-government, which can not be reduced by the decision of state power bodies of the Federation subjects.

3. Adjustment of inter-budget relations in the Russian Federation that would allow local self-governments to fully exercise their powers.

4. Unconditional preservation of the direct election of representative bodies of local self-governments of municipalities and urban districts, as well as heads of local self-governments.

5. Maintaining elections based on party lists for representative bodies of local self-governments on the level of municipalities and urban districts.

Sergei Mitrokhin,

YABLOKO Chairman