In Buryatia, village councils were abolished and direct elections of heads of new municipal districts were banned.
The People's Khural adopted amendments to the Constitution Buryatia and approved the bill eliminating the two-tier system of local government. Sixty-three deputies voted in favor, with only four against.
"In their rush to blindly comply with the presidential administration's decrees, our United Russia members chose not to consider the deterioration in the quality of life of rural residents that would inevitably follow the anti-people reform. — the republican branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation stated. "The Communists were the only ones to speak out against the destructive initiative of the head of Buryatia, Alexei Tsydenov, United Russia, and their satellites, New People and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia."
The law calls for the destruction of all by 2031 240 rural и 14 city Settlement councils and deputies. In their place, 19 municipal districts will be created. Local residents will be able to elect only deputies for these districts—analogs of district councils. Heads of administrations will be appointed by these same councils from candidates nominated by the head of the republic. Alexey Tsydenov.
"For some reason, Buryatia is once again at the top not in terms of quality of life or healthcare system, but because we're rushing to report that we've implemented everything here and followed all the instructions, despite the opinions of ordinary citizens," the deputy said. Bair Tsyrenov, who does not agree with the new reform.
The Irkutsk Regional Legislative Assembly passed a bill eliminating the two-tier system of local government yesterday. Deputies stated that "people don't care how the authorities are appointed or elected." However, just last week, about a hundred residents of Nizhneudinsk, Irkutsk, asked officials to reverse the reform.
Large-scale protests against the reform took place in Altai Republic, where activists faced pressure. One of them, Arun Arna, accused of calling for terrorism and included in the list of extremists.
Residents also protested Krasnoyarsk Krai, Ryazan and other areas. People spoke out against the reform, believing that abolishing the two-tier system would reduce access to power, deprive local communities of the opportunity to independently resolve important issues, and lead to even greater centralization of government.
Previously, only the head of the village councils had openly spoken out against the destruction of the village councils. Khakassia, communist Valentin Konovalov. He refused to sign the regional law and explained his demarche by saying that the reform "goes against the will of the popular majority."
