Governor challenges city mayor

According to researcher Nikolai Petrov, Governor Dmitriyenko might be trying to test a new federal law enabling the governors to remove city mayors. Mr. Dmitriyenko, a member of the United Russia party, might want to remove city mayor of Apatity Mikhail Antropov, a representative of the Communist Party. If successful, the removal of Antropov will one of the first such cases in the country.

As BarentsObserver previously reported, Governor Dmitriyenko earlier called the new federal legislation a “relevant move, especially in times of crisis”.

-I believe this opportunity promotes manageability and draws up a rather clear vertical of power, he said.

Now that statement might be tested in reality. As BarentsObsever reported, city Mayor Antropov has been charged by prosecutors, reportedly because he has failed to comply with a former court verdict, according to which an employee in the local administration is deprived her job and her rights to work for the state services.

Nikolai Petrov in an article in the Moscow Times newspaper writes that Dmitriyenko might be following the example of Perm Governor Oleg Chirkunov who managed to remove a city mayor from his post. That created a precedent which now might start a wave of mayor’s dismissals all over the country.

A two-thirds majority in the city legislature is required in order to remove a mayor from his post. The legislation was approved by the State Duma this spring.

The city mayors are now the highest popularly elected posts in the Russian regions.