Russians against appointment of governors
A survey shows that a great majority of Russians supports direct elections of governors.
57 percent of the participants in a survey say that they would like to see a return to the system with direct popular elections of governors. 20 percent are against a return to this system, while 23 percent find it hard to answer the question, Levada.ru reports.
Then-President Vladimir Putin in 2004 abolished the system of direct governor’s elections and replaced it with a system of presidential appointments.
Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov raised the issue of direct popular governor’s elections in November 2008, but this was rejected by United Russia, BarentsObserver reported.
In April 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree that significantly strengthened the role of political parties in the processes of appointing new governors. The decree reads that the largest political party in the respective regions will be entitled to nominate a minimum of three governor candidates.
Government-loyal United Russia will be the one benefiting from this law. With only a handful of exceptions, the Russian governors are members of the party. The recent dismissal of Murmansk Governor Yury Yevdokimov illustrates the party’s zero-tolerance on governor loyalty against the party structures.
